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News > Latin America

Four Colombians Gunned Down in Antioquia

  • Police at the crime scene, San Rafael, Colombia, Oct. 18, 2021.

    Police at the crime scene, San Rafael, Colombia, Oct. 18, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @AloNoticias2017

Published 20 October 2021
Opinion

So far this year, the Institute for Development and Peace Studies has registered 12 massacres in this Colombian department.

On Tuesday night, unknown assailants murdered four young Colombians who were gathered in the Lineal Park in the San Rafael municipality, in the Antioquia department.

Related

Massacre in Antioquia, Colombia: 5 Dead, Including 3 Venezuelans

“We are waiting for the authorities to carry out their work as they should. They must determine what happened,” San Rafael Mayor Libardo Ciro said and requested the presence of more members of the Colombian security forces in his city.

Witnesses report that the young men were engaged in a cultural event involving rap music in a public square. Armed men shot them with assault rifles, killing 3 at the scene, while the other died shortly after reaching the hospital.

"This kind of massacre is usually intended to reinforce control of the drug business in the area. We know there are illegal armed groups that are fighting against each other for control over public spaces", local social leader Yesid Zapata said.

On Sunday, five people, three of them Venezuelans, were killed in a similar event in Antioquia. Citizens urged institutions such as the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the Prosecutor's Office to better address these events.

On April, to fight these sort of crimes, authorities created the "Safer Southwest", an interinstitutional project that brings together members of the Colombian Army and the National Police to prevent armed violence in the region.

So far this year, the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) has registered 12 massacres in Antioquia and 77 collective murders in Colombia.

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