11 FARC rebels killed in clash with Colombian military amid peace deal

Colombian army officials announced on Tuesday that at least 11 members of a dissident FARC rebel group were killed in combat with soldiers in Colombia’s southern jungle, demonstrating yet again that the 2016 peace deal between FARC and the Colombian government has not been successful.  

The confrontation between the rebels and the army took place on Monday in the rural Puerto Leguizamo municipality in the province of Putumayo near the border with Ecuador and Peru and four rebel fighters from the Segunda Marquetalia group were also captured, Prensa Libre reported.  

The area, known for its extensive coca production networks and drug-producing laboratories, is no stranger to violence and paramilitary operations have run there for decades.  

The confrontation in a rural area of Puerto Leguizamo municipality, in the province of Putumayo near the border with Ecuador and Peru, took place on Monday.

Although the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) officially demobilized in 2016, many rebels (including former commanders) have rejected the deal and continue to engage in the drug and illegal mining trade. The Biden administration removed FARC from the U.S.' terror list in November of 2016, amid wide protests from conservatives and Latinos across the United States. 

The two of the rebel groups – comprised of approximately 2,400 combatants – stand accused by the Colombian authorities of massacring civilians and murdering human rights activists. Violence has surged especially along the Venezuelan border.

Formed in 1964 as the paramilitary wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC was the largest of Colombia’s rebel groups and waged war against the Colombian government and people for six decades.

According to a 2018 report released by Colombia's National Centre for Historical Memory, more than 260,000 people — mostly civilians — died from violence during six decades of guerrilla conflict in Colombia. The report also found that most of the 80,000 people who disappeared were never found. More than 37,000 of those killed were victims of kidnappings, and nearly 15,700 were victims of sexual violence.