A confrontation between Colombian criminal gangs has killed four people near the Venezuelan border.
According to Venezuelan authorities, gunfire was exchanged between cars carrying members of Los Urabenos – neo-paramilitaries who have shut down large parts of northern Colombia since Wednesday — and another criminal group which vies for control of drug trafficking in the border region of Cucuta.
The Colombian victims have been identified as Jorge Luis Ochoa Ramirez, who was 36, and Jose Ramon Villamizar Castillo, who was 34.
Two other Colombians were injured, a 15-year-old boy and a 42-year-old woman identified as Dollys Orozco Sandoval. They are being treated in hospital.
The militants involved escaped back into Colombia. According to authorities, the incident was the fifith massacre by criminal gangs in the region in one year.
