Two new massacres in Colombia leave five dead

Bogota, November 10 (RHC)-- Colombian authorities confirmed the murder of three people in the village of Palermo in the municipality of Thames, located in the southwest of the department of Antioquia. This is the third massacre in the country so far in November; and the second in the last 24 hours.

So far, one of the victims has been identified as Luis Parra Sepulveda, 65, who was reportedly hit by a stray bullet.  The other two victims, aged 20 and 23, were reportedly killed on Monday as part of a drug-related settling of scores.

General Juan Carlos Ramírez, commander of the Army's Seventh Division, assured through his official Twitter account that the troops, along with police agents, are carrying out operations in the area to find those responsible for the triple homicide.

"Faced with information about a violent incident in the district of Palermo, Thames, Antioquia, troops of the Seventh Division, together with the Antioquia Police, are carrying out military and police operations in the area to find the whereabouts of those responsible and protect the population," the official published.

Also on Monday, but in the early hours of the morning, another massacre took place, this one in the municipality of Argelia, in the department of Cauca. According to the local mayor, two people were killed and three others were injured when they were shot by unknown assailants.

The motives for this are unknown, although it appears that the victims had some kind of relationship with Álvaro Narváez Daza, who was president of the Community Action Board of the village of El Vado and was murdered last April.

According to the Institute for Development and Peace (Indepaz), some 70 massacres have taken place in Colombia so far this year, as well as the assassination of at least 50 social leaders and human rights defenders.