Five people were killed in an attack by suspected dissidents of the former guerrilla forces of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Tumaco, southwest Colombia, on the border with Ecuador, the Colombian army.
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Armed men fired at a "
public establishment
", killing two people instantly, three others succumbing to their wounds shortly after in hospital, the army said in a statement. Presumably belonging to the Urias Rendon column, they "
arrived in a vehicle in this establishment before firing indiscriminately
" on those present, according to the army. Six other people were injured, according to the same source. One of the victims was under 15, according to the NGO Indepaz, which has already noted 73 such attacks in Colombia since the start of the year.
Another group of FARC dissidents, the Front Oliver Sinisterra, and the Contadores (Accountants), the main local group of drug traffickers, operate in the same region.
After the landmark 2016 peace agreement that ended more than half a century of conflict, hundreds of fighters refused to lay down their arms.
Without a unified command, these FARC dissidents number some 2,500 guerrillas who finance themselves mainly through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion, according to military intelligence.
The peace agreement enabled the demobilization of some 13,000 men and women, including around 7,000 combatants.
Almost 300 of them have since been killed in targeted assassinations, notably involving their former comrades in arms.