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.

Civilians caught in the crossfire as ELN guerillas target former members of a separate rebel group in the bloodiest violence in recent years A fresh outbreak of guerilla violence amid a faltering peace process in Colombia has left more than 80 people dead,

At least 30 people have been killed in violence between rival leftwing groups near Colombia's restive border with Venezuela, authorities said Friday, prompting the government to suspend high-stakes peace talks with one guerilla group.

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

The Colombian Army on Monday evacuated people from the communities surrounding an area where guerrilla rebels from the National Liberation Army and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia group have been fighting over the past week.