Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Friday that he was suspending peace negotiations with National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas after a day of violence that killed around 30 people on the border with Venezuela.
"What the ELN did in the Catatumbo region are war crimes. That is why we are suspending dialogue with this group, because the ELN shows no willingness to make peace," Petro wrote on the social network X.
William Villamizar, governor of North Santander department in northeastern Colombia, told Blu Radio the violence between ELN rebels and dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) erupted on Thursday in the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela.
"Data from the field indicates at least 30 people killed and more than 20 injured," the governor said.
The clashes are due to "a territorial dispute" between the ELN and dissident FARC factions for control of cocaine production in the area, Villamizar added.
The ELN is the biggest of the armed groups still active in Colombia since the government signed a deal with the much bigger FARC Marxist rebel group, which disarmed in 2017 after more than 50 years of war with the state.