Clashes between armed groups cause panic in southern Colombia

Clashes between rival factions of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia left an undetermined number of dead and forced some 500 residents of an area in the south of the country to confine themselves, the Colombian Army reported on Sunday.

The Carolina Ramírez front of the Central General Staff and the Second Marquetalia Border Commands clashed on Saturday in the municipality of San José del Fragua, in the department of Caquetá, in the south of the country, the Army press department reported to The Associated Press.

The Army did not specify the number of deaths due to the clashes. The local press reported that around a dozen people had lost their lives.

The Ombudsman’s Office indicated in a statement that approximately 500 families are confined to the town due to disputes between armed groups for control of the territory.

According to the institution, the inhabitants have not been able to leave their homes “for fear of the intensification of armed actions and the presence of lifeless bodies on rural roads”, which would belong to members of these criminal groups.

The Ombudsman’s Office warned that if the clashes continue, they could trigger a “massive forced displacement.”

The Departmental Coordinator of Social, Environmental and Peasant Organizations of Caquetá warned on Sunday about the “serious situation of violation of Human Rights” that puts “the life, permanence and integrity of the communities” at risk, warned in a statement, in which demands that the government of President Gustavo Petro “urgently” address the situation and provide guarantees to the communities of Caquetá.

Border Commandos is a group made up of dissidents from the former FARC allied to the Second Marquetalia who operate especially in the department of Putumayo and are dedicated to the production and trafficking of cocaine, according to InSight Crime.

The Carolina Ramírez front would be part of the Central General Staff, the largest group of FARC dissidents that operates with the same purpose in the Putumayo area.

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