1,500 people in Colombia forced to leave land
By IANSTuesday, April 6, 2010
Bogota, April 6 (IANS/EFE) A guerrilla group in Colombia has forced around 1,500 people to leave their land, officials said.
The people, mostly peasants, from the hamlet of La Vega del Ingles, left their land Saturday and sought refuge in a nearby school after being forced off their land by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Ituango city mayor Carlos Mario Gallo said Monday.
The mayor asked the government, public agencies and the Red Cross to provide assistance to the displaced peasants.
The FARC, Colombia’s oldest and largest leftist guerrilla group, was founded in 1964 and has an estimated 8,000 to 17,000 members.
The guerrilla group is still believed to be holding around 700 hostages, officials said.
–IANS/EFE
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