Colombia conflict has killed 'nearly a quarter of a million'

Almost a quarter of a million Colombians have been killed in the country's bloody half-century conflict, most of them civilians, a government-funded report revealed on Wednesday, providing fresh evidence of the vast scale of human rights violations since hostilities began.

The study, which took six years to complete, examined atrocities that have occurred since the early days of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the FARC) in 1958, said Gonzalo Sanchez, head of the investigation.

Colombia has been fighting a war with the FARC and another leftist rebel group, the ELN (National Liberation Army) since their formation in the late 50s and early 60s after a long period of civil war known as La Violencia. The FARC and ELN, or National Liberation Army, also battled right-wing paramilitary groups, leaving civilians caught in the middle.