Colombian officials said on Monday that at least 80 people had been killed in the northeastern Catatumbo region, close to the border with Venezuela, after failed attempts to hold peace talks with the far-left National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group.

Among those killed were seven people who had come to sign a possible agreement that was being negotiated, as well as the community leader, Carmelo Guerrero. transmits Al Jazeera.

According to Colombian authorities, the attacks took place in several towns in the Catatumbo region and that at least three people who were participating in the negotiations were kidnapped. The ELN is just one of a number of rival militant groups fighting each other for supremacy in the cocaine trade, over which they are at odds with the authorities. In recent days, clashes have erupted between the ELN and outlaws from Colombia's most notorious guerrilla group, the FARC.

Hundreds of people are fleeing the area, some hiding in nearby mountains. The wave of violence comes after Colombian state authorities broke off talks with the National Liberation Army for the second time in less than a year.

The Colombian government is demanding that the ELN stop all attacks and allow authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid.