Colombia prompted to investigate killings

BOGOTA, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The Colombian government should investigate the killing of 17 indigenous people in the country's southwest, a human rights groups demanded Tuesday.

Colombian officials say members of the Awa Indian tribe were killed last week by unidentified gunmen in Narino state, El Tiempo reported.

"These cruel killings violate the most basic principles of human decency and dignity," said Human Rights Watch Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco.

Drug violence and fighting between leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries have escalated in recent years in the state.