Both groups said they would respect the mission. But armed conflict has a way of overwhelming agreements.
In the high reaches of Colombia's Sierra Nevada, where indigenous Arhuaco communities have long held their ancestral ground, two armed groups have turned the mountains into a theater of war — and the civilians between them are bearing the cost. A humanitarian mission, organized by indigenous leaders and accompanied by the national Ombudsman, managed to evacuate nine wounded people, including two children, by military helicopter on March 10, 2026, while an elderly man lost his life in the clashes. The mission represents both a small mercy and a larger warning: the state's own early alert systems had foreseen this crisis, and the question now is whether formal commitments from armed actors can protect what agreements alone have rarely been able to preserve.
- Since at least March 6, the Clan del Golfo and the self-styled Conquistador Self-Defenses of Sierra Nevada have been fighting in the mountains above Aracataca, trapping indigenous Arhuaco civilians in the crossfire.
- One elderly man is dead, nine people were wounded badly enough to require helicopter evacuation, women have gone missing, and the UN Human Rights Office has documented what it describes as grave violations of international humanitarian law.
- Both armed groups publicly agreed to allow humanitarian workers and evacuees to pass — a fragile negotiation that bought time but offers no guarantee against the next outbreak of violence.
- The Ombudsman's office, which had issued early warnings about exactly this scenario in 2025, has now formally escalated to the Interior Ministry and called for an emergency government session to coordinate protection and aid.
- The deeper fear, rooted in the Sierra Nevada's own history, is forced mass displacement — the kind that has uprooted indigenous communities before and that the Arhuaco are urgently signaling they cannot endure again.
In the mountains of Colombia's Sierra Nevada, two armed groups have been fighting for days, and the Arhuaco indigenous communities caught between them are paying the price. On Wednesday, Colombia's Ombudsman's office announced it was accompanying a humanitarian mission near Gunmaku, in Aracataca, Magdalena, where the Clan del Golfo and the Conquistador Self-Defenses of Sierra Nevada have been locked in combat. The mission was organized by Arhuaco leaders alongside regional authorities to assess the human rights situation of trapped civilians.
By March 10, the situation had grown desperate enough to require a military helicopter. Nine people — four men, three women, and two children — were airlifted to safety, all wounded in the fighting. An elderly man had already been killed. Both armed groups, when approached, publicly agreed to allow the evacuations and humanitarian workers to move through their territory — a small but significant concession in a conflict with few guardrails.
The United Nations Human Rights Office offered a grimmer accounting. Beyond the confirmed casualties, the UN documented apparent civilian deaths, missing women, and wounded children, describing the situation in language that pointed unmistakably to serious breaches of international humanitarian law.
None of this came without warning. The Ombudsman's office had flagged in 2025 that armed confrontations in this region risked triggering mass forced displacement and the confinement of indigenous communities. Now those warnings had come true. The office formally notified the Interior Ministry and called for an emergency session of the government's rapid-response committee to coordinate protection measures for communities in the high Sierra and the village of Palestina.
The Ombudsman also appealed directly to both armed groups — through existing dialogue channels — to commit explicitly to leaving indigenous people out of their conflict and respecting their territorial autonomy. The request carried the weight of history: the Sierra Nevada has seen devastating displacements before, and the Arhuaco communities were making clear they could not bear to see those episodes repeated. Whether public commitments, in terrain where the state's reach is thin, will prove enough to hold the line remains the question that no evacuation mission can answer.
In the mountains of Colombia's Sierra Nevada, two armed groups have been fighting for days, and the people caught in between are paying the price. On Wednesday, Colombia's Ombudsman's office announced it was monitoring a humanitarian mission in the rural areas around Gunmaku, a community in Aracataca, Magdalena, where the Clan del Golfo and a group calling itself the Conquistador Self-Defenses of Sierra Nevada have been locked in combat. The mission was organized by Arhuaco indigenous leaders, working with the regional government and child welfare authorities, to assess the human rights situation of civilians trapped in the crossfire.
The violence had been escalating since at least March 6. By Tuesday, March 10, the situation had become dire enough that a military helicopter was needed to evacuate the wounded. Nine people were airlifted to safety that day—four adult men, three women, and two children—all of them injured in the fighting. An elderly man was killed in the clashes. The Ombudsman's office confirmed that security forces were able to extract these nine people and that both armed groups, when asked, publicly agreed to allow the evacuations and humanitarian workers to pass through their territory.
But the picture painted by the United Nations Human Rights Office in Colombia was grimmer. In a statement released days earlier, the UN office reported that Arhuaco indigenous people had been subjected to serious abuses since the fighting began. Beyond the confirmed deaths and injuries, the UN documented what appeared to be at least one civilian killed, women who had gone missing, and wounded civilians including a child. The language was careful but unmistakable: grave violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law were occurring.
The Ombudsman's office had warned about this possibility months earlier. In early warning alerts issued in 2025, the office had flagged the risk that armed group confrontations in this region could spiral into mass forced displacement and the confinement of indigenous communities. Now those warnings had materialized. The office formally notified the Interior Ministry that the dangers it had predicted were coming to pass, and it called for an emergency session of the government's rapid-response committee for early warning alerts to coordinate protection measures and humanitarian aid for residents of Serankua, in the high reaches of Sierra Nevada, and the village of Palestina in Aracataca.
The Ombudsman made a direct appeal to both armed groups. In forums where indigenous communities and armed actors have established channels of dialogue, the office asked the groups to make explicit commitments: to stop targeting indigenous people, to keep them out of their conflicts, and to respect their territorial rights and autonomy. The request was framed as a response to the communities' own fears—fears rooted in history. The Sierra Nevada has seen mass forced displacements before, episodes of confinement that have devastated indigenous populations. The communities were signaling that they did not want to see those horrors repeated.
What remains unclear is whether such commitments, even if made publicly, will hold. Both groups said they would respect the humanitarian mission. But armed conflict in remote mountain terrain, where state presence is thin and indigenous communities have little recourse, has a way of overwhelming even the most carefully negotiated agreements. The nine people evacuated on March 10 are safe. The question now is whether the thousands still in the Sierra Nevada can remain there without being forced to flee, or whether the fighting will intensify and drive them from their ancestral lands.
Notable Quotes
The Ombudsman's office asked both armed groups to make explicit commitments to stop targeting indigenous people, keep them out of their conflicts, and respect their territorial rights and autonomy.— Colombia's Ombudsman's office
The UN Human Rights Office reported grave violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law, including at least one civilian killed, women missing, and wounded civilians including a child.— UN Human Rights Office in Colombia
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that both armed groups publicly committed to respecting the humanitarian mission? Doesn't that seem like theater?
It matters because it creates a record and gives the Ombudsman's office something to point to if violations occur. But you're right to be skeptical. The real test is whether those commitments hold when the fighting heats up and commanders on the ground are under pressure.
The UN office mentions women reported missing. That's a specific detail that suggests something darker than just combat casualties.
Yes. Disappearances in armed conflict often signal abduction, forced recruitment, or worse. The UN was careful with its language, but the implication is that civilians are being targeted, not just caught in crossfire.
The Ombudsman had already issued warnings about this in 2025. So this wasn't a surprise.
Exactly. The office saw the conditions building—two armed groups moving into the same territory, indigenous communities with no military capacity to defend themselves. They flagged it. Now it's happening, and they're trying to contain it before it becomes a mass displacement like previous episodes.
What does it mean that the Arhuaco leaders themselves organized this mission?
It means they're not waiting for the government to protect them. They're using their own authority and their relationships with both groups to try to create space for evacuation and monitoring. It's a form of self-protection when the state can't or won't provide it.
Is there any indication this will end soon?
Not really. The source doesn't suggest either group is backing down. The emergency committee meeting the Ombudsman requested might help coordinate aid and protection, but it won't stop the fighting. That depends on factors we don't see here—drug trafficking routes, territorial control, things beyond the immediate humanitarian crisis.