Armed men have assassinated a candidate for the council of Caldas, a town just outside the city of Medellin. The murder brought the number of killed local election candidates to nine.
The assassination Friday happened a day before a mayoral candidate for the southwestern city of Yumbo was taken to hospital in critical condition after contract killers shot him while in the city of Cali.
The Caldas politician, aligned to a new party led by a politician jailed for his ties to drug trafficking and paramilitary organization AUC, is the ninth local election candidate to be killed since October, reported newspaper El Tiempo.
Colombia will vote for new mayors, council members, governors and deputies in October.