UN voices concern over 'expansion' of Colombian armed groups

Criminal armed groups in Colombia are gaining strength, the United Nations said Monday kidnapping children, killing activists and displacing civilians by the thousands, despite ongoing peace talks with the government.

Last year, fighting that has drawn in leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and drug gangs claimed 252 lives in dozens of massacres, the UN Human Rights Office said in an annual report.

It added that 89 rights defenders were killed and 216 children mainly Indigenous were forcibly recruited to fight for their kidnappers.

"Violence perpetrated by non-State armed groups and criminal organizations in Colombia continues to blight people's lives and rip apart the social fabric of communities across the country," the UN said.

Analysts say the security situation in Colombia has deteriorated under a peace drive initiated by President Gustavo Petro, which has seen an easing of the state's military offensive against armed groups.

The South American country is battling to extricate itself from six decades of armed conflict between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug cartels and state forces.

Peace talks with remaining armed groups have broken down several times since a deal inked in 2016 led to the disarmament of the FARC leftist rebels.

The state never moved into the areas left ungoverned by the FARC, and in their place other groups now fight for control of drug trafficking, illegal mining and other illicit businesses, experts say.

People from Indigenous and Afro-descendent communities and small-scale farmers are worst affected by the violence.

The UN report highlighted fighting that broke out last month in the northeastern Catatumbo region, killing dozens and displacing more than 50,000.

And in Bogota, UN representative Juan Carlos Monge said not enough was being done to minimize the impact on civilians.

"There has been an expansion and consolidation" of armed groups in different parts of the country, he told AFP at a launch event.

"One of the specific recommendations has to do with the state having to be present... in all territories to guarantee the protection of human rights."

The report said the number of massacres was down 27 percent from 2023, there were 15 percent fewer murders of rights defenders and displacements were lower by nearly a fifth.

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