New massacre reported in western Antioquia, Colombia | News

The commander of the Antioquia Department Police, in northwestern Colombia, Colonel Carlos Martínez, reported on Wednesday the discovery the day before of three lifeless bodies with firearm impacts in a rural area of ​​the Plan del Indio sector, village Montebello, San Andrés de Cuerquía municipality.

READ ALSO:

Another peace signatory is assassinated in Cauca, Colombia

This would be the 53rd massacre committed so far this year in the South American country, according to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz).

According to the official, two of the bodies were found in the same place, they were linked to each other and were from the neighboring municipality of Toledo. The third body was found later and, according to information available to the authorities, it was not related to the previous case.

He added that they were transferred to Forensic Medicine for identification, while the causes of these deaths and those responsible are being investigated.

Martínez attributed the murders to the Clan del Golfo, an armed criminal structure with a presence in the department, where it is engaged in confrontations with other armed actors to establish territorial control over areas to the north and northeast of Antioquia.

In a statement on this fact, Indepaz recalled that in its early warning (AT) number 011/21, the Ombudsman's Office explained that these armed actors try to seize mobility corridors between the municipalities of Angostura, Campamento, San Andrés de Cuerquía , Toledo and Yarumal.

He added that with this they try to control an extensive area that "covers from the Cauca River, in the North Antioquia sub-region, to the Porce River in the Northeast." In that AT, the Ombudsman emphasized that "the imposition of norms and other forms of social control by the armed groups mean a permanent risk of violation of the rights of the population."

The murder of these three victims was added to four other homicides, perpetrated days ago in Frontino, Olaya and Cañasgordas, all municipalities in western Antioquia.

Colonel Martínez specified that in the case of these four people, it was verified that they had criminal and judicial records for theft and drug trafficking.

In this area of ​​Antioquia, the presence of the so-called 36th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and local armed groups have been reported. The area is under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Division of the Colombian National Army.