BOGOTÁ, April 10, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - At least six people were killed and several others seriously injured in an attack Thursday in a rural region of southwest Colombia where armed groups are involved in drug trafficking, authorities said.

Colombia is facing its worst wave of violence in a decade, with regular attacks by guerilla groups and other rebel factions, particularly in far-flung regions.

Men armed with "short and long-range weapons" opened fire at a property near the city of Popayan, in the department of Cauca, municipal secretary Felipe Acosta said in a press statement.

The attackers "killed one person who was found outside and five others who were found inside" the property, Acosta added.

The conflict-ridden, coca-growing region is fought over by dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army.

Authorities said they had no clear leads on the attackers and were waiting for the police to enter the area with the support of the army.

The attack left an unknown number of people "seriously injured," Popayan Mayor Juan Carlos Munoz said on X.

It brings the number of mass killings recorded in the country this year to 36, according to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) -- a record high since FARC agreed to lay down arms in a 2016 peace deal.

Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro took office in 2022 with the aim of reaching peace deals with the various dissident groups fighting for control over Colombia's lucrative cocaine trade.

But with four months left in his term, no significant progress has been made toward that goal.