Eight dead in clashes between rival rebel groups in Colombia

The groups are made up of rebels who rejected Colombia’s historic 2016 peace agreement that demobilized the FARC.

The number of people killed “is at least eight,” a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Renegade FARC factions are engaged in a deadly conflict for control of drug fields, illegal gold mines and lucrative smuggling routes in the world’s largest cocaine producing country.

The Carolina Ramirez Front is one of the groups under the command of Ivan Mordisco, considered Colombia’s most powerful rebel leader, who withdrew from peace talks with the government last month.

The Border Command, which is active in the border regions with Ecuador, is a splinter group of the Segunda Marquetalia and is led by Ivan Marquez, another former high-ranking FARC commander.

Although rumors of his death circulated, Marquez appeared in a video released earlier this month.

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