By Luis Jaime Acosta Reuters

At least 27 members of a leftist guerrilla group in Colombia were killed in clashes with a rival faction in a fight over control of a jungle area in central Colombia, military authorities reported on Sunday.

The clashes, which have been the most violent in recent months, occurred in the rural area of the municipality of El Retorno, in the department of Guaviare, 300 km (186 miles) southeast of Bogota, a military source said.

The region is strategic for cocaine production and trafficking.

The clashes took place between a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) led by Nestor Gregorio Vera, known by his war name Ivan Mordisco, and another led by Alexander Diaz Mendoza, alias Calarca Cordoba, a second military source specified.

Both groups were part of the so-called Central General Staff but separated in April 2024 due to internal disputes. The casualties were all from Vera’s group, according to the two military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A leader from Diaz’s group also confirmed the clashes and the 27 deaths to Reuters.

The guerrilla faction led by Diaz is currently engaged in peace talks with President Gustavo Petro, while Vera’s group continues hostilities after the government suspended a bilateral ceasefire. These now-rival factions had rejected a 2016 peace agreement that allowed approximately 13,000 FARC members to abandon armed struggle and reintegrate into society after disarming.

Colombia’s armed conflict, spanning over six decades and primarily financed by drug trafficking and illegal mining, has resulted in over 450,000 deaths and millions displaced, with Petro’s peace efforts currently stalled.

(This story has been corrected to rectify the location of El Retorno to say southeast, not southwest, of Bogota, in paragraph 2 and to say central, not southwestern, Colombia in paragraph 1 and to correct the second reference to Alexander Diaz Mendoza in paragraph 3.