At least 17 killed in Colombia’s attacks

SANAA, Aug. 23 (YPA) –  At least 17 people were killed in three attacks in the past 24 hours in parts of Colombia, Colombian officials and local media reported Saturday.

According to Reuters, the separate attacks resulted in the deaths of six in Colombia’s Nariño, and Cauca provinces, while five others were reported to have been killed in Arauca, province.

“We don’t know if the dead form part of an organization or if they are family members,” General Nairo Martinez, commander of the Army’s Hercules Task Force, told local Caracol Radio in reference to the killings in Narino.

These areas are experiencing a conflict between drug traffickers, gangs and defectors from the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (FARC) who have been demobilized.

Drug trafficking has been fueled for decades by Colombia’s internal conflict, which has claimed more than 260,000 lives and displaced millions.

E.M