New Massacre Leaves Three Dead in Cauca, Southwestern Colombia

Three men who departed in a street in the Colombian town of Miranda, in the troubled department of Cauca, in the southwest of the country, were shot dead, the NGO Peace Studies Development Institute (Indepaz) reported on Saturday.

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Indepaz detailed that the three people were massacred “by armed men who boarded them and attacked them without a word”. Two of the victims were identified as Jhonny Gómez and Álvaro Sánchez, who, according to the community, were street dwellers. The identity of the third person has not yet been determined.

According to Indepaz figures, 29 massacres have occurred in Colombia so far in 2024. Last Thursday, FARC dissidents from the Central General Staff (EMC) attacked a police station in El Caramelo, a rural area of Cauca.

???? #29masacresen2024

???? Fecha:14/06/24
???? Lugar: Miranda, Cauca
???? Nº de Víctimas: 3 personas

➡️Tres personas fueron asesinadas con arma de fuego en la cabecera municipal de Miranda, Cauca por hombres armados que los abordaron y los atacaron sin mediar palabra pic.twitter.com/dMK2aFB6eX

— INDEPAZ (@Indepaz) June 15, 2024

The Office of the Ombudsman of Colombia has warned that both in Cauca and in its neighbor Valle del Cauca there is evidence of the intensification of the armed conflict and direct violence, not only by the presence and territorial control of the groups present, but by the entry into these areas of other illegal armed structures.

This week, the EMC, which is currently divided into two groups that previously commanded ‘Iván Mordisco’, intensified the number of attacks in Cauca that began with four coordinated attacks that left one civilian and two police wounded.

The Colombian government suspended the ceasefire in three departments after violence against indigenous people and the security forces with the most belligerent group of the EMC, led by ‘Iván Mordisco’ and which is no longer on the table.