Almost 700 people have been displaced from their communities in western Colombia after paramilitary incursions, the United Nations said Wednesday.
According to the international organization, the inhabitants of five indigenous communities in Alto Baudo were forced to flee over the past 10 days after the paramilitaries “committed acts of sexual abuse against women” and kidnapped 12 people, including four minors.
The kidnapped community members later returned.
Indigenous organization ONIC said that the paramilitaries identified themselves as members of the “Aguilas Negras.”
ONIC
National Victims Unit
The Navy announced it would “intensify operations” in the area to expel “approximately 40 men of the organized crime group Gulf Clan.”
According to the Navy, the majority of people were able to return to their homes, but this was contradicted by the UN.
United Nations
According to the National Victims Unit, the area around the Bajo Baudo municipality is being disputed by the AGC and the ELN, a guerrilla group that has opposed the state since the 1960s.
More than 150,000 people have been displaced in Colombia since the beginning of a peace process with the FARC, the country’s largest guerrilla group until peace was signed in November 2016.