At least 80 people are dead and more than 18,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela.

The governor of the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, William Villamizar, declared “a social and economic emergency” in that region in the northeast of the country due to the humanitarian crisis caused by clashes between ELN guerrillas and FARC dissidents in the Catatumbo area (northeast).

Terrified residents carrying backpacks and belongings on overladen motorcycles, boats, or crammed onto the backs of open trucks, fled the region over the weekend.

At least 80 people are dead and more than 11,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela.

The unusually deadly violence delivers a devastating blow to the “total peace” program of the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

More than 80 people were killed following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army.

At least 80 people were killed in northeast Colombia following failed attempts at peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

Colombia vowed "war" against left-wing guerrillas Monday, as security forces rushed to contain a wave of violence that has killed more than 100 people and threatens to derail the country's