Three people, including a 13-year-old minor, were killed by gunmen in northwest Colombia, the ninth massacre in the country since August 11. The facts occurred on the night of Thursday August 27 to Friday August 28 in the town of the Andes, in the department of Antioquia, police said.
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Armed men broke into a farm where they " shot without a word " at the victims, Antioquia police commander Colonel Ever Gómez said in an audio message to the media. Two people died on the spot and another in the hospital. Among the victims " there is a 13-year-old minor ," said the officer.
Colombia has been facing an escalation in violence for several months. The UN has recorded around 30 massacres since the start of the year. The latter lists as “ massacre ” any assassination of at least three people perpetrated at the same time by the same perpetrator or group of perpetrators. Since August 11, at least 42 people have died in these conditions. The government accuses the armed groups that finance themselves by drug trafficking of being responsible for these killings, which constitute one of the worst waves of violence since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016 with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Despite the decrease in violence thanks to this agreement, Colombia remains in the grip of an armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitaries, drug traffickers and security forces which, in more than 60 years, has claimed nine million victims. The South American country is the world's largest producer of cocaine, with some 154,000 hectares of coca plantations in 2019, according to the UN.