BOGOTA, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Violence is on the rise in Colombia's northwest where leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries are surging in numbers, a U.N. report finds.
The area's civilian population is reportedly increasingly fearful of the massing of forces on both sides of Colombia's protracted conflict, though it is hardly the first time many inhabitants have been caught up in the fighting.
"Several of the communities affected by the current deteriorating conditions had already been displaced previously and returned to their homes," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond in Geneva. "Now, renewed insecurity could force them to flee yet again."
The U.N. assessment came following a one-week mission to the municipality of Bojaya in Choco Province, the same region that received international attention in May 2002, when 119 people taking refuge in a church were killed by explosives.
Thousands of people left the area after the massacre and hundreds of them have still not returned.
Colombia's leftist rebels have been fighting the Colombian government for 40 years.
The paramilitaries emerged as a result of that fighting. Both sides use drug production to finance their operations.
On Monday, U.S. President Bush pledged additional aid for Colombia in its fight against leftist rebels.
