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full screen Police patrol in Tibu, Colombia on Tuesday, following the guerrilla attacks that killed at least 80 people in the Catatumbo region. Photo: Fernando Vergara/AP/TT
Colombia is sending its army to quell the bloody fighting between armed rebel groups near the border with Venezuela.
Forces from the two major leftist rebel groups ELN and Farc have been fighting each other in the Catatumbo region of northeastern Colombia, next to the border with Venezuela, for about a week.
– There has already been a first battle between the army and members of the National Liberation Army ELN. The order is to take over the territory, says Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasques.
More than 9,000 soldiers are now deployed in the area, where battles over the cocaine trade have raged between rival guerrilla groups for years.
At least 80 people have been killed in the recent fighting and many have been kidnapped. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee, according to government and UN estimates.