More than 60 Bodies Found in Colombian Mass Grave
Colombian investigators say they've found about 60 bodies in a mass grave in the southwest of the country. | Photo: AFP
Published 7 February 2015 (20 hours 17 minutes ago)
Paramilitary groups, who are known for seizing lands from farmers for the purposes of trafficking drugs, are suspected in the massacre.
Colombian authorities said they have found about 60 bodies in a mass grave Saturday in the southwestern department of Nariño, on the border with Ecuador.
"The remains of 13 people were identified ... but we estimate, according to information from an authority in the area, that there may be 62 people (in the grave)," Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre said in a news conference.
Montealegre that right-wing paramilitary groups were likely responsible for the massacre, which is suspected to have taken place somewhere between 2000 and 2005, either during the administrations of Alvaro Uribe or his conservative predecessor Andres Pastrana.
Paramilitary groups often clash with leftist guerrillas, but also also known to seize lands from farmers for drug cultivation and trafficking.
In 2003, former President Alvaro Uribe signed a peace deal with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) – the country’s largest paramilitary group – however new branches of paramilitary groups remain active and control a significant portion of drug trafficking in the country.
Earlier this week, a Colombian court ordered an investigation into Uribe's alleged involvement in a 1997 massacre. A number of key witnesses in the case have been murdered or extradited.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/More-than-60-Bodies-Found-in-Colombian-Mass-Grave-20150207-0018.html
