ISLAMABAD
\nThe death toll from rebel-related violence in a key drug trafficking region of Colombia has doubled to 60, the government\u2019s human rights ombudsman said on Saturday.
\nThe ombudsman\u2019s office posted on social media that about 60 people have died violently, 32 were kidnapped and hundreds were displaced due to conflict in recent days between the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) and the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
\nPresident Gustavo Petro last week accused the ELN of committing a war crime in the attacks, and suspended peace talks with the group.
\nThe ELN, in a statement on Saturday, accused a faction of the FARC of having initiated the conflict by killing civilians and committing other aggressions.
\nThe FARC faction did not publicly respond to the allegation. On Friday it said it had begun withdrawing its units to prevent the violence from escalating.
\nThe Catatumbo region is considered strategic for drug trafficking because of its proximity to Venezuela, from where illegal armed groups export cocaine, security sources have said.
\nPetro\u2019s government since 2022 has pursued peace negotiations with leftist guerrillas and criminal gangs founded by former right-wing paramilitaries, in a bid to end Colombia\u2019s internal conflict.
\nSix decades of fighting in the Andean country has killed at least 450,000 people.
\nThe ombudsman\u2019s office warned that many social leaders and their families are at risk of was kidnapped or killed for opposing the ELN. It called on the ELN and other armed groups to allow humanitarian aid into the area and to \u201cend all attacks against the civilian population.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The death toll from rebel-related violence in a key drug trafficking region of Colombia has doubled to 60, the government\u2019s human rights ombudsman said on Saturday. The ombudsman\u2019s office posted on social media that about 60 people have died violently, 32 were kidnapped and hundreds were displaced due to conflict in recent days between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-456497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n