The bodies of three members of the Awa indigenous community, believed to have been killed by the guerrilla at the end of 2008, were found in a remote area of southern Colombia, in the Nariño department along the border with Ecuador. The National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC) referred that the bodies were found in the Palisito settlement, where hundreds of Awa natives are searching for at least a dozen of their companions assassinated in February in two distinct attacks attributed to the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) in the Tortugaña community -Telembí and El Sande. The FARC in the past weeks admitted to killing 8 Awa, accused of being army informers, strongly denied by the native community that has always remained neutral in the internal conflict in the region, riddled with mines and coca plantations, with a large presence of armed groups, including government troops. The Awa denounced the disappearance of 17 civilians, including two pregnant women, and the forced displacement of some 1,300 indigenous.
[BO]