More than 8,000 civilians fled the violence, with many seeking shelter in government facilities or hiding in the mountains.

Colombia's Army announced on Saturday that 104 fighters from a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including 20 minors, have deserted from the illegal armed group amid an offensive by the rival National Liberation Army (ELN) in the northeast of the South American country.

Colombia is struggling to contain violence in the mountainous northeastern Catatumbo region, where a 5,800-strong ELN has targeted rival armed groups and their alleged sympathizers

The government and United Nations have estimated that armed rebellion has led to the deaths of 80 people while dozens have been kidnapped and tens of thousands have been displaced

Since January 16, armed violence has intensified in the Catatumbo region of northeast Colombia. This violence stems from clashes between the National

A bloody onslaught by the ELN guerrilla group on rival fighters and civilians in northeast Colombia has risen to 80, the governor of the affected Norte de Santander department said Sunday.

The governor of the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, William Villamizar, declared “a social and economic emergency” in that region in the northeast of the country due to the humanitarian crisis caused by clashes between ELN guerrillas and FARC dissidents in the Catatumbo area (northeast).

Fighting between armed groups involving former FARC rebels in the north-east left more than 80 dead in just 3 days. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Civilians caught in the crossfire as ELN guerillas target former members of a separate rebel group in the bloodiest violence in recent years.

More than 80 people have been killed in just three days in northeast Colombia following failed attempts to hold peace talks with the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN), an official has said. The ELN launched an assault in the northeastern Catatumbo region last Thursday on a rival group comprised of ex-members of the now-defunct FARC armed group who kept fighting after it disarmed in 2017.

More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian president Gustavo Petro warned on Monday that his nation’s military will take offensive actions against the National Liberation Army after the rebels, known as the ELN, unleashed a wave of attacks in the country's northeast that left dozens of people killed and forced thousands to flee their homes.