TIBU: A fresh outbreak of guerrilla violence amid a faltering peace process in Colombia has left more than 80 people dead, including civilians, and displaced around 11,000 in just four days. As residents fled for their lives, the army deployed some 5,000 troops to the cocaine-growing Catatumbo region at the center of a fast-escalating territorial war.
It was estimated that "more than 80 people have lost their lives," according to governor William Villamizar of the Norte de Santander department. Terrified residents carrying backpacks and belongings on overladen motorcycles, boats, or crammed onto the backs of open trucks, fled the region over the weekend. Hundreds found refuge in the town of Tibu, where several shelters were set up, while others crossed the border to Venezuela -- for some a return to a country from where they had fled economic and political upheaval. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
