BOGOTA, May 28 (Reuters) - At least 52 guerrilla fighters were killed in clashes between two rival armed groups vying for territorial control of a strategic cocaine production and trafficking region in southeastern Colombia, a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) involved in the fightingsaid in a statement on Thursday.
The clashes, the most violent in recent months, took place in the jungles of the department of Guaviare, near the village of Barranco Colorado.
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed on social media that there had been fighting in the area, as did the Army, but neither provided details on the death toll. Sanchez said troops had been deployed to the area to protect the civilian population.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the 52 deaths reported by the guerrilla group.
The fighting took place between a dissident faction of the FARC led by Nestor Gregorio Vera, better known as Ivan Mordisco, and another led by Alexander Diaz Mendoza, known as Calarca Cordoba.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, Writing by Iñigo Alexander, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)
