‘FARC’ massacre suspects captured in south-west Colombia

Two suspected FARC militants implicated in a 2009 massacre of eight people in south-western Colombia are captured by authorities, according to a press release by the Colombian National Army.

The men, who were caught in a rural part of the Nariño department, are accused of taking part in the murder of three members of the same family near the town of San Juan de Bautista on November 2, 2009. They then returned the next day and executed five more, according to the allegations.

A team from the Prosecutor General’s office made the arrests with the aid of the Colombian National Army and Air Force.

A prosecutor spokesman told local media, “The captured men, supposedly members of the FARC militant group that commit crimes in this area, are summoned for their alleged responsibility in (..) forced displacement, murder and rebellion.”

The victims, who were named at the time, were all identified as being of indigenous or African descent.

Locals had specified that it would be difficult to ascertain who committed the murders due to the large presence of FARC guerillas, drug traffickers and armed gangs in the area.

The two suspects were not named and are awaiting trial in Nariño.

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