Colombia’s illegal armed groups grew in 2023 – secret security report
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombia’s four main illegal armed groups grew during 2023 as they consolidated territorial control financed by drug trafficking and illicit gold extraction, according to a secret security report seen by Reuters. The report focused on leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN), crime gang the Clan del Golfo and two dissident […]
Clashes between gangs, military kill at least 20 in Colombia
Bogota, ColombiaReuters At least 20 people were killed as Colombian military personnel clashed with FARC dissidents and the Clan del Golfo crime gang in different parts of the country, authorities said on Monday. Fighting in Cauca province, in the municipality of Argelia, killed 12 combatants from a dissident group of the now-demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces […]
Colombian armed groups and gangs have 17,600 members, intelligence reports find
Bogota, Colombia Reuters More than 17,600 people are members of the four major armed groups and 23 gangs with which the Colombian Government hopes to reach peace or surrender deals, two security agency reports seen by Reuters show. The newly updated figures, which have not been reported before, are an effort to understand the current […]
Colombian President suspends ceasefire with criminal group
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday said he had suspended a ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo, the country’s largest criminal organisation, because it had attacked police. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro speaks on the day of a presentation of the labor reform that his government wants to carry out, in Bogota, Colombia, on […]
Colombia ELN leftist guerrilla group declares Christmas ceasefire
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday declared a nine-day unilateral ceasefire over the Christmas period, as part of a bid to support peace talks with the Andean country’s government, which urged other illegal armed groups to follow suit. Colombia’s government and the ELN last week completed the first […]