Colombia’s once-weakened armed groups are growing their power again, the country’s ombudswoman told AFP Monday, as the country heads toward its most violent year in a decade.

Fueled by renewed competition over drug trafficking routes, cartels and guerilla groups are cementing their control of pockets of the country outside major cities.

“There is a very serious dynamic of expansion of the groups and fragmentation among them,” Iris Marin said in an interview with AFP.

Almost a decade after landmark peace accords, data shows that Colombia faces surging levels of displacement, rising killings of social leaders and new threats to civilians from explosive-laden drones.

“This year, 2025, the situation has intensified,” she said. “Undoubtedly, the civilian population is suffering greatly.”

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