Five indigenous guards were killed and six others injured in Colombia on Tuesday during an attack authorities blamed on a dissident insurgent group which refused to join the country’s peace accord.
The victims, who were members of the authority responsible for security in indigenous territories across Colombia were attacked in Tacueyo, southwest of the country’s capital Bogota.
A statement issued by the Colombian military said the guards were attacked soon after capturing three members of a rebel group, who were rescued by other guerrillas in an ambush, adding that the six wounded were being treated in nearby towns.
Reacting to the attack, the Colombian President, Ivan Duque condemned the murders on Twitter and said he had ordered the military to find the criminal group responsible for the attack.
Colombia has enjoyed relative calm since a 2016 peace accord signed by then-president Juan Manuel Santos with the country’s FARC rebel movement.
However, indigenous groups in the country have found themselves caught up in an explosion of violence perpetrated by armed gangs fighting over the local drug trade.
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