The government has sent troops into the coca-rich northeastern Catatumbo region to quell hostilities between rebel groups.

Colombian special forces have deployed to areas controlled by armed groups to prevent an outbreak of hostilities between rebels.

Late Tuesday, government forces moved into an area hit by a sudden surge in hostilities between rebel groups fighting for control of drug routes, trying to reassert control of the country. The violence has left more than 100 people dead forced According to AFP, at least 20,000 people have fled their homes.

Dissidents from the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have long fought for control of the coca-rich northeastern Catatumbo mountainous region near the Venezuelan border but have only recently complied with a truce.

However, fighting has broken out again in the past few days, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency and deploy some 5,000 special forces troops to the town of Tibou.

The United Nations reported on Tuesday that about 1,000 of those displaced had sought asylum in Venezuela. The report added that 30 people had been kidnapped and 1,000 people were trapped in their homes due to the violence.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an “immediate end to violence against civilians” in a statement.

The Catatumbo region, which has about 300,000 residents, produces 15 percent of Colombia’s coca crop, attracting rebel groups to the region.

Most FARC members laid down their arms after a 2016 peace deal with the government, but dissident factions continue to thrive in some parts of the country and are involved in organized crime and the lucrative drug trade.

The ELN is believed to have around 6,000 fighters and occasionally flirting agree to peace.

However, on Friday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro Suspend talks Cooperation with the National Liberation Army, accusing the group of war crimes. The group’s militants reportedly dragged people from their homes and shot them at close range.

On Monday night, Petro said he would issue an emergency decree that would allow him to pass conflict-related legislation without congressional approval.

In settlements around the city of Tibou, shacks and shops are adorned with stickers commemorating late commanders of the once-powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Along the same empty streets, dozens of buildings were covered in graffiti declaring the “National Liberation Army exists” or pledging to seek “freedom or death.”

For many Colombians, the recent bloodshed is a reminder of more than half a century of civil war that has killed 450,000 people and made the country synonymous with armed violence.