BOGOTA, Sept 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 10 people were slain in two new multiple killings in Colombia at the weekend, authorities said, amid the worst violence there since a 2016 peace deal.
The bullet-riddled bodies of four young men were found dumped in a mangrove swamp in Narino department on Monday, local authorities said.
On Sunday, six people were killed in the neighboring department of Cauca.
An unidentified armed group reportedly shot at those attending a cockfight in an attack that also left several people wounded.
“Unfortunately, the wave of violence continues to increase in our department,” Cauca local government official Francisco Ceron said in a statement.
In both incidents, the authorities pointed to the likelihood of FARC dissidents being responsible.
The Institute of Studies for Development and Peace, Indepaz, says at least 61 massacres have been recorded in Colombia this year, and that the killings have become more frequent in recent months.
Holdouts from the guerrilla movement who rejected a 2016 peace accord, drug traffickers and fighters with a still active rebel group called the National Liberation Army are blamed for the violence.
The groups are fighting a turf war over control of illegal mining, coca plantations and drug trafficking routes to Central America and the United States. — NNN-AGENCIES
