Suspected far-right paramilitaries killed 11 people in a northwestern Colombian region in the first massacre of the new year in Colombia. Police in Bogotá said the victims were shot dead in Wednesday’s attack in a rural area near the town of Yolombó. The secretary of the Yolombó government told reporters the massacre, which he blamed on paramilitaries, had sparked anxiety, panic and commotion. Human rights groups allege the paramilitaries, which number some 8,000 and are grouped into the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, have links to the military. The army, which says paramilitary numbers are rising, vehemently denies the collusion.