At least 10 dead in clashes between FARC dissidents and the ELN

A balance of 10 deaths would be the result of the intense fighting that began on Tuesday night and lasted until Wednesday morning in a village in the municipality of Puerto Rondón, Arauca, in eastern Colombia.

A special commission made up of the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office and the Army are trying to reach the place to recover the bodies and control the situation in the area.

In a statement, the ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, called on both armed groups to end the confrontations in the department of Arauca, where last year there was a critical situation with 352 homicides.

Among the deceased in this last encounter, would be alias solinfinancial leader of the dissident faction of the FARC known as the Front 10.

“Sadly, in Puerto Rondón (Arauca) the discovery of several corpses of men who would have died in combat is reported, which increases the uncertainty of the population and has generated the confinement of the families that inhabit the villages of El Paisaje, Normandía and Lejanías, and the occurrence of forced displacements is not ruled out,” Camargo pointed out.

“We reiterate the call to the illegal armed groups in this department to show gestures of peace and join the dialogue process that the National Government has been promoting. A ceasefire is urgently needed to give peace of mind to the civilian population of Arauca”, added the ombudsman.

Juan Pappier, of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, communicated through a tweet They have already received the first reports from the community and requested guarantees from the government to guarantee the safety of the population.

“We have received reports of at least 10 deaths in Arauca, after clashes between the ELN and FARC dissidents. It happened in the village of El Paisaje, in Puerto Rondón”.

The ELN, the last active guerrilla in the South American country, recently denied President Gustavo Petrowhich on December 31 had announced that this group would be part of the rebel organizations with which the government agreed a bilateral ceasefire.

This guerrilla had declared a unilateral ceasefire until January 2 and, after Petro’s announcement of the bilateral truce, the high command of the ELN assured that only what was agreed at the negotiating table would be fulfilled.

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