Venezuelan soldiers killed civilians, according to refugees who fled to Colombia

ARAUQUITA MUNICIPALITY, Colombia (Reuters) – Venezuelans fleeing Colombia to flee clashes between Venezuelan military and irregular armed groups have accused soldiers of abuse, including killing civilians.

The flow of refugees, estimated at 4,000 by an official from the Colombian municipality of Arauquita, began on Sunday after Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) launched an offensive against illegal armed groups in La Victoria, a Venezuelan city in Venezuela. another side of the Arauca River from Arauquita.

Venezuela said it is investigating allegations that members of its military committed abuses, including the arrest and killing of civilians, as well as looting and burning of houses.

“They stormed our house and took everything from us. When they arrived they broke everything, the doors; they came in and took everything I had in the house, in the workshop, “mechanic José Castillo, who arrived in Colombia with his pregnant wife and 12-year-old daughter, told Reuters.

“I couldn’t stay because it kills people. They killed some neighbors and dressed them in Venezuelan army uniforms to leave them guerrillas, “Castillo said.

Reuters could not independently verify the allegations of Castillo or those of other displaced Venezuelans who showed photos on their cell phones of dead people wearing camouflage uniforms with guns in their hands.

Dissidents of the Demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who reject a 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government, are the targets of military operations, according to fleeing civilians.

But the victims were residents of La Victoria and its environs, they said.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said at a news conference that two Venezuelan soldiers were killed in clashes along with six irregular fighters whom he described as terrorists.

39 more have been captured, he added in a statement.

“We must expel any group from any ideology, from any foreign nationality,” Padrino said. “We are obliged to expel them, whatever is said.”

The charges against the Venezuelan military do not reflect his ethics, Padrino said.

The Venezuelan armed forces are forced to defend the country from irregular groups, he said, adding that human rights would be respected and that the facts would be investigated.

In a separate statement, the Venezuelan defense ministry accused the Colombian government and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency of supporting foreign fighters.

The Colombian government and the CIA were not immediately available for comment.

Venezuela’s chief prosecutor, Tarek Saab, wrote in a series of messages on Twitter that Venezuela is investigating facts in La Victoria to see if the rights were being violated.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has accused the government of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro of welcoming FARC dissidents and members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), which the Caracas government denies.