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(CNN Spanish) - Five indigenous people were killed Tuesday in Tacueyó, Toribío, in the department of Cauca, in southwestern Colombia, according to a statement from the Colombian Military Forces.
The statement adds that the events were allegedly directed by members of residual GAO (known as Residual Armed Groups, or dissidents) in a rescue operation of members of their organization who had been detained by indigenous guards of the shelter by “being loitering in the area "
The Association of Indigenous Cabildos immediately denounced the facts and asked their entire organization to declare a permanent assembly.
The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, condemned the facts via Twitter and said that the Army has sent troops to the sector "with a precise order to find the criminal group responsible for the attack."
In the face of unfortunate events in Cauca, I have instructed @MinInterior to hold a Special Human Rights Committee tomorrow with the Government and indigenous organizations. All our commitment to the ancestral communities of the department.
- Iván Duque (@IvanDuque) October 30, 2019
In addition to the five dead, authorities report six injured people who were taken to local hospitals.
The Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the Organization of American States (MAPP / OAS) repudiated the murder and made “an urgent call to the competent institutions to coordinate with the indigenous authorities the necessary resources to guarantee the security of their communities and leadership ”.
“The MAPP / OAS regrets the murder of Cristina Bautista, authority Neehwe'sx, and the community members José Gerardo Soto, Asdruval Cayapú, Eliodoro Inscue and James Wilfredo Soto, while in solidarity with their families, the Nasa community and the six people who were injured in these repudiable attacks, among which are members of the indigenous guard, ”the statement said.