Government sends troops into coca-rich northeast Catatumbo region in bid to quell hostilities among rebel groups.
Colombian special forces have been deployed into territory controlled by armed groups in a bid to stem an outbreak of hostilities among the rebels.
Late on Tuesday, government troops moved into areas that have seen a sudden surge in hostilities among rebel groups vying for control of drug routes, seeking to reassert state control. The violence has killed more than 100 people and forced at least 20,000 to flee their homes, according to the AFP news agency.
The National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissidents from the rival Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) groups have long battled for control of the coca-rich mountainous northeastern Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, but respected a truce until recently.
However, fighting broke out again over the past few days, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency and deploy some 5,000 soldiers from special forces to the town of Tibu.
The United Nations reported on Tuesday that among those displaced, about 1,000 have sought shelter in Venezuela. Thirty people have been kidnapped and 1,000 are trapped in their homes due to the violence, it added.
In a statement, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for protection for “an immediate cessation of acts of violence against the civilian population”.
The Catatumbo region has about 300,000 residents and it produces 15 percent of Colombia’s coca crop, luring the rebel groups to the area.
Most FARC members laid down their arms following a peace deal with the government in 2016, but dissident factions have continued to thrive in pockets of the country, enmeshing themselves in organised crime and the lucrative drug trade.
The ELN, which is believed to have about 6,000 fighters, has also occasionally flirted with agreeing peace.
However, on Friday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspended talks with the ELN, accusing the group of committing war crimes. Its fighters have reportedly been dragging people out of their homes and shooting them at close range.
On Monday night, Petro said he would issue an emergency decree that would enable him to pass legislation related to the conflict without congressional approval.
In settlements around the municipality of Tibu, stickers on sheds and shops celebrated the late commanders of the once-powerful FARC.
On the same empty streets, scores of buildings were daubed with graffiti declaring “the ELN is present” or promising to seek “liberty or death”.
For many Colombians, the recent bloodshed carries echoes of a civil war that killed 450,000 over more than half a century and made the country a byword for armed violence.
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