World Conflicts
promptmason.org

Colombia armed conflict

Active Medium intensity Intrastate Americas 27 May 1964 to present

Colombia's state forces face the ELN, FARC dissident factions and the Clan del Golfo, which also fight each other, notably in Catatumbo since January 2025. The ICRC called 2025 the worst humanitarian year in a decade. President de la Espriella took office in August 2026, ended all talks and ordered a military crackdown.

Conflict zones

Click a shape for details and sources

Zones, lines of contact and strike arcs are approximate and illustrative, drawn from public reporting. They are not authoritative; click a shape for its sources. Borders from Natural Earth, with Crimea shown as part of Ukraine in line with UN General Assembly resolution 68/262.

Key facts

Killed or injured by explosive devices, 2025
965 (up more than a third on 2024)
ICRC as of 31 Dec 2025
New disappearances documented, 2025
308
ICRC as of 31 Dec 2025
Illegal armed group members (government figure)
28,802 (July 2026), up 90% since 2022
Colombia One as of 31 Jul 2026
Massacres in 2026 (Indepaz, to mid-May)
55 massacres, 236 victims
El País (Cali), citing Indepaz as of 18 May 2026
Reported fatalities, last 4 weeks (ACLED)
171
ACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026
Deaths in 2026, 22 Dec to 4 Oct 2026 (UCDP)
1,983 best estimate (1,967–1,996)
UCDP GED Candidate 26.0.9 as of 4 Oct 2026

Human cost

Fatalities
Killed in 2026 so far (UCDP)
2K
  • 1,983 estimatedUCDP GED Candidate 26.0.9 as of 4 Oct 2026UCDP best estimate, events 22 Dec to 4 Oct 2026; low 1,967, high 1,996
People displaced
Nationwide, during 2025
236K
  • 235,619 reportedICRC via Al Jazeera as of 31 Dec 2025People displaced individually by conflict during 2025 (nationwide); a further 87,069 were displaced in mass events
Catatumbo only, since Jan 2025
100K
  • 100,000 estimatedNorwegian Refugee Council as of 15 Jan 2026Catatumbo region only, displaced since 16 Jan 2025 (Victims Unit reports 102,857)
All forcibly displaced, country-wide (UNHCR)
7.5M
Recorded events, last 30 days
192

Parties and actors

  • Colombian Armed Forces and National Police State armed forces · aligned with Government
  • National Liberation Army (ELN) Non-state armed group
  • FARC dissident factions Non-state armed groups
  • Clan del Golfo Criminal armed group

Parties are listed factually by name and role. Inclusion does not imply any judgement.

Negotiations

Negotiations hub
Government-ELN peace process and other 'Total Peace' talks Stalled
Parties
Government of Colombia, ELN, FARC dissident factions, urban criminal groups
Mediators
None reported
Last development
11 Sep 2026

Talks with the ELN were suspended in January 2025 over the Catatumbo offensive. On 11 September 2026, President de la Espriella formally ended all remaining dialogue processes with armed and criminal groups.

Colombia One as of 11 Sep 2026

Trend: events and reported fatalities by month

Events per month Reported fatalities per month
0 0 125 125 250 250 375 375 500 500Nov 2021: 108 events, 98 reported fatalitiesDec 2021: 101 events, 90 reported fatalitiesJan 2022: 270 events, 283 reported fatalities2022Feb 2022: 243 events, 202 reported fatalitiesMar 2022: 205 events, 192 reported fatalitiesApr 2022: 242 events, 239 reported fatalitiesMay 2022: 171 events, 164 reported fatalitiesJun 2022: 169 events, 135 reported fatalitiesJul 2022: 324 events, 260 reported fatalitiesAug 2022: 168 events, 181 reported fatalitiesSep 2022: 159 events, 139 reported fatalitiesOct 2022: 213 events, 184 reported fatalitiesNov 2022: 194 events, 167 reported fatalitiesDec 2022: 179 events, 161 reported fatalitiesJan 2023: 180 events, 181 reported fatalities2023Feb 2023: 194 events, 138 reported fatalitiesMar 2023: 204 events, 181 reported fatalitiesApr 2023: 221 events, 173 reported fatalitiesMay 2023: 174 events, 126 reported fatalitiesJun 2023: 182 events, 128 reported fatalitiesJul 2023: 282 events, 209 reported fatalitiesAug 2023: 260 events, 165 reported fatalitiesSep 2023: 254 events, 166 reported fatalitiesOct 2023: 144 events, 112 reported fatalitiesNov 2023: 189 events, 175 reported fatalitiesDec 2023: 210 events, 205 reported fatalitiesJan 2024: 205 events, 160 reported fatalities2024Feb 2024: 161 events, 131 reported fatalitiesMar 2024: 224 events, 157 reported fatalitiesApr 2024: 149 events, 101 reported fatalitiesMay 2024: 147 events, 127 reported fatalitiesJun 2024: 187 events, 138 reported fatalitiesJul 2024: 123 events, 82 reported fatalitiesAug 2024: 230 events, 199 reported fatalitiesSep 2024: 184 events, 139 reported fatalitiesOct 2024: 210 events, 159 reported fatalitiesNov 2024: 221 events, 206 reported fatalitiesDec 2024: 138 events, 128 reported fatalitiesJan 2025: 219 events, 253 reported fatalities2025Feb 2025: 199 events, 149 reported fatalitiesMar 2025: 287 events, 252 reported fatalitiesApr 2025: 243 events, 202 reported fatalitiesMay 2025: 237 events, 167 reported fatalitiesJun 2025: 183 events, 135 reported fatalitiesJul 2025: 226 events, 178 reported fatalitiesAug 2025: 297 events, 273 reported fatalitiesSep 2025: 258 events, 229 reported fatalitiesOct 2025: 187 events, 128 reported fatalitiesNov 2025: 224 events, 171 reported fatalitiesDec 2025: 160 events, 124 reported fatalitiesJan 2026: 184 events, 232 reported fatalities2026Feb 2026: 206 events, 129 reported fatalitiesMar 2026: 177 events, 126 reported fatalitiesApr 2026: 217 events, 195 reported fatalitiesMay 2026: 224 events, 232 reported fatalitiesJun 2026: 161 events, 145 reported fatalitiesJul 2026: 190 events, 134 reported fatalitiesAug 2026: 261 events, 206 reported fatalitiesSep 2026: 183 events, 158 reported fatalitiesOct 2026: 192 events, 171 reported fatalities
reportedACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026 Political violence events only (battles, explosions/remote violence, violence against civilians).
Show data table
MonthEventsFatalities
Oct 2026192171
Sep 2026183158
Aug 2026261206
Jul 2026190134
Jun 2026161145
May 2026224232
Apr 2026217195
Mar 2026177126
Feb 2026206129
Jan 2026184232
Dec 2025160124
Nov 2025224171
Oct 2025187128
Sep 2025258229
Aug 2025297273
Jul 2025226178
Jun 2025183135
May 2025237167
Apr 2025243202
Mar 2025287252
Feb 2025199149
Jan 2025219253
Dec 2024138128
Nov 2024221206
Oct 2024210159
Sep 2024184139
Aug 2024230199
Jul 202412382
Jun 2024187138
May 2024147127
Apr 2024149101
Mar 2024224157
Feb 2024161131
Jan 2024205160
Dec 2023210205
Nov 2023189175
Oct 2023144112
Sep 2023254166
Aug 2023260165
Jul 2023282209
Jun 2023182128
May 2023174126
Apr 2023221173
Mar 2023204181
Feb 2023194138
Jan 2023180181
Dec 2022179161
Nov 2022194167
Oct 2022213184
Sep 2022159139
Aug 2022168181
Jul 2022324260
Jun 2022169135
May 2022171164
Apr 2022242239
Mar 2022205192
Feb 2022243202
Jan 2022270283
Dec 202110190
Nov 202110898

Events by type

Battles Explosions / remote violence Violence against civilians
0 125 250 375 500 20222023202420252026
reportedACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026

Most affected provinces

  1. Cauca 469 events · 267 fatalities
  2. Norte de Santander 356 events · 260 fatalities
  3. Antioquia 295 events · 299 fatalities
  4. Valle del Cauca 179 events · 138 fatalities
  5. La Guajira 137 events · 138 fatalities
  6. Narino 110 events · 125 fatalities
  7. Bolivar 109 events · 93 fatalities
  8. Arauca 107 events · 61 fatalities
reportedACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026 Last 12 months, political violence events.

Sources and further reading

An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙

Rejoining the server...

Rejoin failed... trying again in seconds.

Failed to rejoin.
Please retry or reload the page.

The session has been paused by the server.

Failed to resume the session.
Please retry or reload the page.