Victims of Bojaya massacre laid to rest 17 years later

Survivors of Colombia’s Bojaya massacre are warning violence is returning once again.

In Colombia, it was the day of the funeral for victims of the worst massacre committed by FARC rebels during the country’s civil conflict. Survivors in the town of Bojaya received the remains of their loved ones 17 years after the fact thanks to the country’s peace deal. But as Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti reports, people are warning that violence is coming back to the region.

On May 2, 2002, confrontations between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group and the United Self-Defence Forces (AUC) paramilitaries erupted in Colombia’s western province of Choco. The fighting killed dozens, mostly women and children.

A cylinder bomb fell on the church where civilians took refuge amid the fighting. The official death toll stands at 74, but some estimate as many as 119 were killed in what has become known as the Bojaya massacre. Hundreds more were injured in the days of fighting leading up to the massacre.

Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti reports from Bojaya, Colombia.