ICRC Reports Highest Civilian Impact from Colombia Armed Conflict in a Decade

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday that the impact of armed conflict on civilians in Colombia last year was the highest in a decade. The organization recorded 235,000 people displaced in 2025, double the number from the previous year. It also documented a 99 percent increase in the number of people subjected to lockdowns imposed by armed groups in rural communities.

The ICRC reported 965 people killed or injured by explosive devices in 2025, a 33 percent rise from the year before. On April 25, 2026, an explosive device attack on a bus on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio killed at least a dozen people. Colombian authorities attributed the attack to dissident groups of the former FARC rebels. A funeral for victims was held in Cajibio on April 28, 2026.

The ICRC also noted the assassination of a presidential candidate who was shot in the head during a rally in Bogota in 2025 and later died. Olivier Dubois, the ICRC’s chief of mission in Colombia, stated that “the humanitarian situation in 2025 is the result of a progressive deterioration that the ICRC has warned about since 2018.”

In February 2026 the United Nations Human Rights office in Colombia described the security situation as “backsliding” and reported that murders of human rights defenders increased by 9 percent in 2025. ” It repeated that Colombia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in a decade as armed groups tighten their grip over rural communities.

On May 8, 2026 Colombian soldiers received new Jaguar rifles at Indumil’s General Jose Maria Cordova arms and ammunition factory in Soacha municipality near Bogota. The delivery occurred days after the Cajibio funeral and amid continued reports of children being recruited into criminal groups in areas under rebel influence.