Another FARC Ex-Combatant Murdered in Colombia's Antioquia

Hooded hitmen gunned down FARC ex-combatant Nelson Andres Urrego, the North-eastern branch of the Cahucopana rights group confirmed Wednesday.

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Zapata Urrego, 32, was part of the reinsertion program of demobilized guerrillas and was traveling to the town of Remedios, in the northeast of Antioquia, when he was shot dead.

The Cahucopana foundation demanded Colombian authorities guarantee security in the northeast: five former FARC guerrillas have been killed in recent months, usually in the areas in which the programs of reinsertion are being implemented.

The organization warned that the systematic killings could extinguish the former rebel group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and urged the state to open an investigation into Zapata's murder.

Last June, the FARC handed in the last of its weapons to United Nations officials, effectively ending 53 years of war with the state while exposing its members to violence by other paramilitary operatives.

Meanwhile, the government's lack of commitment to security protocols established in the peace accord has contributed to the resurgence of a "dirty war" waged by the ultra-right.

Since the demobilization process began, many former rebels have been assassinated by paramilitary forces, raising concerns that the violence inflicted on the Patriotic Union party during the 1980s and '90s could be repeated.

Juan Manuel Santos' government has denied the existence of paramilitary groups in the country, despite repeated warnings by the United Nations.