The incident in Antioquia Department was part of a dispute between the ELN rebel group and the Gulf Clan drug gang.
The ELN and the Gulf Clan, founded by former right-wing paramilitaries, are fighting over drug production previously controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, who demobilized last year after a peace deal.
“Five armed subjects entered and shot patrons and caused the death of seven people,” Carlos Mauricio Sierra, police commander for the province, told reporters on Monday. The incident took place in the mountainous municipality of Yarumal.
In the nearby municipality of Cáceres, hundreds of people were displaced from their homes over the weekend by fighting between illegal armed groups, Antioquia’s provincial government said on its website.
The ELN, FARC dissidents who refused to demobilize and crime gangs, are also involved in illegal mining of gold, extortion, and other crimes. The government has sent thousands of additional soldiers to troubled areas in a bid to improve security.
The ELN is holding peace talks with the Colombian government in Quito, but the talks were recently interrupted when the group stepped up its attacks after the end of a ceasefire.
The Gulf Clan has repeatedly expressed a desire to come to a surrender agreement with Colombia’s government, which has said it will not negotiate with criminal groups.
The views expressed in the contents are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMT.
Sumber Seven killed in bar shooting in drug-producing Colombian department