At least 80 people were killed and another 11,000 fled their homes in northeast Colombia since Friday when guerrilla group ELN embarked on an offensive to retake control over the Catatumbo region.
According to Ombudsman’s Office, among the dead are multiple demobilized former FARC guerrillas and at least one farmers’ representative from Catatumbo.
In a statement, the ELN’s Northeastern Bloc said that the people killed by their guerrillas were members or associates of the 33rd Front of FARC dissident group EMCB.
“The so-called ‘peace signatories’ who have been killed in the operations carried out were not civilians, but active militia leaders and those responsible for the finances of the 33rd,” the ELN division said in a statement.
According to the ELN, the 33rd Front has been using an ongoing peace process with the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC to challenge the ELN’s control over Catatumbo.
The 33rd Front of the ex-FARC is a product of that failed peace process, and a sign of this is that part of its command and combatants are demobilized members of the former FARC-EP who act as ‘peace signatories’ while operating as combatants or militiamen of the 33rd Front.
ELN’s Northeastern Bloc
Ombudsman Iris Marin and representatives of some 120 community organizations from Catatumbo challenged the ELN’s claim and accused the illegal armed groups of stigmatizing and targeting innocent civilians.
The humanitarian crisis generated in recent days forces us to demand the strict application of international humanitarian law, which is imperative to guarantee the life and integrity of the civilian population. We strongly reject all attacks or threats against those who exercise social leadership, human rights defenders, peace signatories and the non-combatant population.
Social organizations from Catatumbo
With the help of the armed forces, the government’s Victims Unit sent 17 tons of aid to urban centers in Catatumbo to provide relief to the thousands of families that have been forced to flee.
The National Army sent hundreds of soldiers to northeast Colombia in an attempt to restore order in the region.
Newspaper El Espectador reported on Monday that the government may declare a State of Exception, which would give the military exceptional powers, to confront one of the most forceful guerrilla offensives in decades.
