More Than 80 People Killed by Guerrilla Conflict in Norte de Santander, Colombia
Photograph provided by Brigade 30 of the National Army of Colombia of members of the Armed Forces transporting an injured person this Thursday in El Tarra, Colombia. EFE/ Brigada 30 del Ejército Nacional
January 19, 2025 Hour: 4:18 pm
Clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and a FARC dissident in the Catatumbo region of Colombia have caused more than 80 deaths, over 20 injuries and thousands of displaced persons, Governor of the department of Norte de Santander, William Villamizar, reported on Sunday.
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“Nowadays we have a very sad outcome, more than 80 people murdered, over 20 injured, people who have had to be airlifted out of the region to save their lives,” stated the governor in Cúcuta, the capital of the department.
The Army has intervened in these efforts, which this Sunday reported that “amid the confrontations between the ELN and the FARC dissidents,” through an air assault operation, soldiers “managed to enter a confined area” in the hamlet of La Gabarra (Tibú) and rescue “a social leader and a family member who were being pursued by members of the ELN.”
The ELN’s war against the FARC dissidents, which began last Thursday, has also caused the exodus of thousands of peasants, mainly toward the urban centers of Cúcuta, Ocaña, and Tibú, cities in Norte de Santander, the department to which Catatumbo belongs, and some have even crossed the jungle border into Venezuela.
The Office of the Ombudsman had stated last night that in these confrontations “around 60 people have died violently in Convención, Ábrego, Teorama, El Tarra, Hacarí, and Tibú. Among the murdered are 7 peace signatories and the leader Carmelo Guerrero of the Association for Agricultural Unity of Catatumbo (Asuncat).”
According to the governor, there are also “confined individuals” in the various municipalities of Catatumbo, “seeking the possibility of a humanitarian corridor to be able to leave, and people who are moving towards Ocaña, towards Tibú, and towards Cúcuta.”
More than 218 Colombians displaced by the internal conflict were received this Friday in Jesús María Semprún, Zulia, near the border with Venezuela. Among them are Colombians, Colombian-Venezuelans and Venezuelans. According to the correspondent of teleSUR, Madelein García, at least three canoes have been seen arriving with people and their belongings.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE // telesurtv.net // indepaz
