At least 80 people were killed in fighting since Tuesday between leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary fighters in a rural area of Colombia according to local officials.
The victims were killed in fighting between rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and right-wing paramilitaries from the Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) in Antioquia, said Mr Dario Quinones, the government secretary of Campamento, a municipality located 318 miles northwest of Bogota.
Mr Quinones told reporters that 28 bodies were recovered, 12 of which belonged to FARC fighters. "But a humanitarian group that went into the area found some 50 more bodies," he said.
"The group verified the count of 50 bodies in just one place," he said. "So the tally of around 80 dead is low and the real figure will be much higher."
The northeastern department of Antioquia is one of several regions wracked by armed clashes between the FARC, Colombia's largest and oldest rebel group, and AUC forces.
During a major battle on May 3rd between these two rival forces - which together boast of more than 20,000 combatants - 119 people, mostly women and children were bombed to death as they huddled inside a church in Bojaya, 44 miles from Campamento.
AFP