Attacks by rebel ELN fighters in the Catatumbo region forced thousands of people to flee the area.
More than 80 people have been killed in three days in northeastern Colombia after peace talks with the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) failed, an official said.
The ELN last Thursday launched an attack in the northeastern region of Catatumbo against a rival group made up of former members of the now-defunct FARC armed group, which continued to fight after being disarmed in 2017.
William Villamizar, the governor of Norte de Santander state, which includes Catatumbo, said civilians were trapped and by Sunday “more than 80 people are believed to have lost their lives.”
The final death toll on Saturday was estimated at 60, including seven former soldiers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in five municipalities in the mountainous cocaine-producing region near the Venezuelan border.
A report released late Saturday by the government’s ombudsman agency said the victims included community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who were trying to sign a peace agreement.
Thousands of people are fleeing the area, some hiding in nearby lush mountains or seeking help in government shelters.
Villamisar said about two dozen people were injured and about 5,000 people were displaced by the violence, and described the resulting humanitarian situation as “alarming.”
“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public address Saturday.
“Boys, girls, young men, teenagers, whole families are showing up on foot, in trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever, to avoid becoming victims of this confrontation.”
The military said it had dispatched more than 5,000 soldiers to the area to “enhance security.”
Army Commander Luis Emilio Cardoso Santamaria said Saturday that authorities were strengthening humanitarian corridors between Tibu and Cúcuta to ensure safe passage for people fleeing their homes. He also said special city soldiers have been deployed to the municipal capital where there is “a lot of risk and fear.”
FARC was disarmed under a 2016 peace deal signed after more than half a century of war.
But the agreement failed to quell violence linked to left-wing groups, including FARC rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels over resource and trafficking routes in some regions.
The ELN blames former FARC rebels for several killings in the region, including the Jan. 15 killing of a couple and their nine-month-old baby.
The ELN said in a statement on Saturday that it had warned former FARC members that if they continued to attack the population, there would be no other recourse but armed confrontation.
The ELN has clashed in recent days with the Gulf Clan, the largest drug cartel in the world’s largest cocaine producer, leaving at least nine people dead elsewhere in northern Colombia.
The recent violence has prompted President Gustavo Petro to suspend negotiations with the ELN to pursue “complete peace” in the violence-plagued country.
