BOGOTA, April 25 ― The United Nations expressed concern yesterday for residents in Colombia's Cauca department where it said criminal groups were taking advantage of the coronavirus lockdown to expand their control.

Rupert Colville, the spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said "at least 13 human rights defenders are reported to have been killed so far this year” in Cauca, describing the situation as "deeply worrying.”

Armed criminal gangs are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes through Cauca and "are behind most of the attacks.”

He warned that the virus lockdown measures "have aggravated an already violent and volatile situation.”

"Armed groups as well as criminal groups appear to be taking advantage of the fact that most of the people are in lockdown to expand their presence and control over the territory,” Colville said in Geneva.

On top of the murder of human rights defenders, indigenous groups have also faced death threats, according to the UN.

Cauca, in the southwest, is a strategic region for coca, the main ingredient used to make cocaine, and marijuana, as well as for the transport of drugs, mostly to the United States.

It's been one of the areas worst-hit with human rights activist killings since a historic 2016 peace accord that brought an end to six decades of armed uprising by Marxist FARC rebels, who have since disarmed and established a political party.

Although the FARC has laid down its weapons, violence continues to blight Colombia with guerillas from the ELN, FARC dissidents, drug traffickers, right-wing paramilitaries and even the country's armed forces all involved in a multi-faceted armed conflict. ― AFP