At least 17 people were killed in fighting between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissidents of the 33rd Front of the FARC in the Colombian municipality of Teorama, in the midst of clashes between these two groups in the Catatumbo region, which have caused more than 47,000 displaced people in just over a week.

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This was reported on Sunday by the Ombudsman’s Office, which pointed out in a thread on the social network X that “17 people were killed in fighting between the ELN and the Front 33 in Teorama”, which is part of the Catatumbo and located in the department of Norte de Santander, and that “some of them (the fatalities) would be teenagers who had been recruited”.

Clashes between the ELN guerrilla and the 33rd Front of the FARC left between 60 and 80 dead, according to the People’s Defense Office and the Northern Santander Governorate.

In a recent post, the Ombudsman’s Office highlighted that Armed clashes between the Colombian Gaitanist Army (EGC), the dissensions of the EMBF’s 36th Front and the ELN have intensified the humanitarian crisis in several regions of Antioquia and southern Bolivar. The expansion of EGC, which has expanded its presence from 213 to 345 municipalities in five years, increases the risk of lockdowns, mass displacement and targeted violence against civilians.

However, the authorities have been able to collect only 41 bodies because of the situation that still exists in rural areas far from Catatumbo where the authorities have not yet been able to access.

“The bodies of other dead people could be found without a rising,” the Office of the Defense Minister said today.

He also warned that there are 12 signatories of the peace agreement between the government and the FARC in 2016 who are missing, 47,084 displaced people and 23,757 people remain confined by guerrilla violence.

In its balance sheet, the Commission also recalled that 112 persons have been demobilized from these armed groups since the wave of violence began and that 20 of them are minors.

“This crisis in the Catatumbo is again exposing the use and recruitment of children by all armed groups. They are dying in the midst of confrontation and widespread disrespect for IHL (International Humanitarian Law),” warned the Office.

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