Armed clashes force people to flee in western Colombia

Over 6,000 people have fled their homes in Colombia's western department of Choco in the past two months because of fighting between illegal groups seeking to establish territorial control of the area, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported Friday.

An additional 7,000 people, mainly Afro-Colombians and indigenous people, have found their movements severely limited by fighting concentrated around the Baudo, Atrato and San Juan rivers, compounding their access to livelihoods including fishing, hunting and agriculture.

This comes against the backdrop of the final stages of a peace dialogue between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the main guerrilla force in the country.

Launched in 2012, negotiations are seeking to broker an end to a conflict which has raged for 52 years, leaving 220,000 people dead, 45,000 missing and almost 7 million internally displaced.

The government has also recently announced the launch of formal talks with another armed group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).

"UNHCR today urgently calls on all parties to the conflict to guarantee the safety of the civilian population," the agency said in a statement.

"This includes refraining from establishing military bases in or near civilian settlements and carrying out bombing raids in these areas. It is also essential to address the structural causes of displacement, including control over territory and resources," it added.

Source: XINHUA