Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
– ‘War crimes’ –
The Ombudsman’s Office in Colombia said Saturday that some residents of the affected regions were “taking refuge in the mountains.”
The office warned that people including “peace signatories, social leaders and their families, and even children, face a special risk of being kidnapped or killed.”
While professing to be driven by leftist, nationalist ideology, the ELN is deeply involved in the drug trade and has become one of the region’s most powerful organized crime groups.
Talks with the ELN broke down for several months last year after the group launched a deadly attack on a military base.
Following the latest round of fighting, Petro said Friday the ELN “shows no willingness to make peace” in a post on X that also accused the group of committing “war crimes.”
More than 2,500 people have fled the violence to the town of Tibu, the town’s mayor said Saturday.
Temporary shelters were opened around Tibu to house displaced people who arrived in flat-bed trucks or cramped on motorbikes, some carrying household belongings on their backs.
“We are very afraid for the children and that we will be caught in the middle of the conflict,” Carmelina Perez, 62, who had escaped with her grandchildren, told AFP.
Across the border, Venezuela announced the launch of “a special operation to assist the civilian population displaced from Colombia,” according to a government statement.
Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told state television that “hundreds of families” have been forced to take refuge in Venezuela, itself torn by economic and political upheaval.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
