Guerrilla group ELN confined tens of thousands of people from western Colombia to their homes in order to fight paramilitary organization EGC.
The guerrillas issued the indefinite lockdown order in the southern half of the Choco province on Sunday.
The units of the ELN’s Omar Gomez Western War Front continue defending the communities in the territory, complying with out revolutionary duty and commitment as a means of prevention to avoid that the population finds itself affected in the carrying out of defensive operations, the ELN decrees an indefinite armed strike along the San Juan, Sipi and Cajon rivers.
ELN
In a pamphlet that was published in the jungle region, the ELN accused the EGC of using civilian boats and ferries to occupy strategic positions along the San Juan river in collusion with the security forces.
According to Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba, the guerrilla lockdown effectively confined some 50,000 people from the south of the province to their homes.
Today, mobility on the river [San Juan], the main artery of the rural communities, does not exist. There is extreme anxiety and fear.
Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba
The governor also said that the illegal armed groups vying for control over the river have been laying landmines that could cause victims after the lockdown comes to an end.
How to end the war in western Colombia?
The ELN has exercised control in the south of Choco for decades, which has caused armed conflict with the military and paramilitary organizations since the 1990’s.
In the past few years, the EGC has carried out countless offensives to uproot the guerrillas from the region that is of major importance to drug traffickers.
The government has been holding peace talks with the ELN and plans to negotiate with the EGC in its latest attempt to end the violence.