At least six people were killed and several others seriously injured in an armed attack on Thursday in a rural area of southwest Colombia.
Authorities said armed groups involved in drug trafficking operate in the region, AFP reports.
Colombia currently faces its worst wave of violence in a decade. Guerrilla groups and rebel factions continue to carry out frequent attacks, especially in remote areas.
Armed men used “short and long-range weapons” to open fire on a property near the city of Popayan in Cauca department, municipal secretary Felipe Acosta said in a press statement.
He said attackers killed one person outside the property and five others inside.
The conflict-hit, coca-growing region remains contested by dissidents of the former FARC guerrilla group, which has disbanded.
Authorities said they had no clear leads on the attackers. Police are waiting to enter the area with army support.
Popayan Mayor Juan Carlos Munoz said on X that an unknown number of people also suffered “serious injuries”.
The attack raises the number of mass killings in Colombia this year to 36, according to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz). It marks the highest level since the 2016 peace deal with FARC.
President Gustavo Petro, who took office in 2022, has aimed to secure peace agreements with armed dissident groups. These groups fight for control of Colombia’s cocaine trade.
However, with four months left in his term, officials have made no major progress toward that goal.
