Colombia

At least six Colombian soldiers have been killed and five injured in an ambush in north-western Antioquia province, the army says. … Officials said they suspected the Gulf Clan criminal gang to be behind the attack.

President Ivan Duque asked the United Nations to continue monitoring Colombia’s peace process until 2034 amid concerns over escalating violence.

Colombia’s dynamic peace process – which saw fresh strides with the holding of a largely peaceful parliamentary election last month – will succeed or fail based on efforts to halt the deadly violence faced by former combatants, social leaders and human rights defenders, the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Colombian Senator Gustavo Petro, who polls suggest is the favourite to win May's presidential election, has secured the nomination of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition. Mr Petro, a former guerrilla with the M-19 rebel group, won Sunday's primary by a wide margin. He will face five other candidates in the presidential election on 29 May. … The 61-year-old ran for president in 2018 but was defeated by the right-wing candidate Iván Duque.

A bombardment carried out by Colombia's armed forces killed 23 FARC dissidents on Thursday as part of a military offensive to seize control of an area in the northeast of the country which sits on the border with Venezuela, the government said.

The war crimes tribunal said that 12 regions throughout Colombia suffered a reactivation of armed conflict last year. In a press release, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) said that 2021 was the most violent year since the government and now-defunct guerrilla group FARC signed peace in 2016.

The UN Mission in Colombia was the target of an attack on Thursday, when three vehicles that were part of a joint expedition travelling through a remote area, were approached by armed individuals, although nobody was ultimately injured during the incident. 

Five years after its signing, the Final Peace Agreement in Colombia is setting down ever deeper roots, the Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Thursday, as he called on the Government, political parties, former combatants and Colombians across the diverse South American nation, to intensify implementation of the landmark 2016 accord ahead of Congressional elections.

Colombia reported the deaths of at least 145 community leaders and rights defenders last year, as fighting by armed gangs fuelled further violence.

The former Colombian senator, Ingrid Betancourt, has announced she will run for president again, 20 years after being kidnapped by left-wing rebels.