Colombian judicial sources on Friday announced findings of a new breed of paramilitary organization being created in the north of the country.
The Prosecutor General’s Office revealed that the new generation of paramilitary organization created by the powerful drug gang “Los Rastrojos” and the much weaker neo-paramilitary group “Los Paisas” in the Cordoba department.
According to the Prosecutor General, a November 25 raid yielded a 27-page manual for this new paramilitary group named “CAS Commando al Sur.” The first chapter in the manual is entitled, “How to Treat the Civilian Population,” which orders members of the group to avoid harming the civilian population.
The document also instructs members to only engage in violence with non-allied security forces and rival gangs.
Los Rastrojos, originally from the south-western department of Valle del Cauca, have been gaining power in the department of Cordoba. The department, crucial for the drug trade to Colombia’s Caribbean coast has seen soaring violence for years. Its territory is contested by several neo-paramilitary groups like the “Aguilas Negras,” the Urabeños” and the “Paisas,” who were formed from the ashes of the paramilitary organization AUC.