At least 27 members of a left-wing guerrilla group were killed in Colombia in clashes with a rival faction. Both groups are fighting for control of an Amazon area in the southwest of the country, according to information from military sources cited by Reuters this Sunday (18).
The clashes, which were the most violent in months, took place in a rural region of the municipality of El Retorno, in the department of Guaviare, which is 300 km from the capital, Bogotá, according to the same source.
SEE ALSO:
The region is an important hub for the cultivation of coca leaves, used in the production of cocaine. The two guerrilla groups are dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Despite the FARC having surrendered its weapons in 2017, armed narco-terrorist groups continue to dispute coca-producing territories.
The group that suffered the 27 casualties is the Central General Staff (EMC), led by narco-terrorist Néstor Gregorio Vera, better known as “Iván Mordisco”. The other is o General Staff of Blocks and Fronts (EMBF), of Alexander Díaz Mendoza, known as “Calarcá Córdoba”.
Mordisco is considered one of the most wanted criminals in Colombia and investigations last year showed his group’s contacts with high-ranking officials in Gustavo Petro’s government. The undeclared war between narco-terrorist groups, who fight among themselves and against the Colombian government, has lasted more than six decades and has left an estimated 450,000 deaths. The clashes revolve around control of drug trafficking and illegal mining.
