A new generation of armed drug-trafficking groups in Colombia has replaced a right-wing paramilitary army demobilized in 2006, a local think-tank says.
A report by Indepaz found the new armed groups had overtaken left-wing rebels as the main perpetrators of violence.
It said they were present in 29 of Colombia’s 32 provinces.
Indepaz’s study was based on its own field work as well as date from government agencies and the media.
The demobilisation of the right-wing paramilitary United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) in 2006 was one of the main successes of former President Alvaro Uribe, who left office in August.
But Indepaz says a dozen or so new armed groups – which it calls narco-paramilitaries – have quickly replaced the AUC in much of Colombia.
With names like “Black Eagles” and “Rastrojos,” they combine control of cocaine production and smuggling with extreme violence, though with less of a political agenda.
Indepaz estimates they have as many as 13,000 members.
The BBC’s Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the cocaine trade is still the principal motor of the armed conflict, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the illegal armed groups
The AUC was formed by landowners and drug lords to battle the left-wing rebels of the Farc and ELN.
It was also heavily involved in drug trafficking and committed widespread human rights abuses against civilians, including massacres and forced displacement.
More than 30,000 paramilitaries were demobilized and many leaders extradited to the US to face drugs charges.
But the legal process underlying the demobilisation has been criticised for allowing many to escape punishment for serious crimes.
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