Colombian President Ivan Duque confirmed on Friday the murder of four people from the Land Restitution Unit (URT) commission

Bogota, July 10 (RHC)-- Colombian President Ivan Duque confirmed on Friday the murder of four people from the Land Restitution Unit (URT) commission who had been missing since May 27 in an area of the department of Meta.

"This fact generates us deep pain, all my solidarity with the families and friends of these 4 people. I reiterate our commitment to work to return the land to the peasants and we will spare no effort to find those responsible for these murders," said the Colombian president on Twitter.

The bodies of Karen Sulay Garay Soto, John Steven Cagua, and sisters Yadmil and Sandra Milena Cortés Uribe, were found in a mass grave between the municipalities of Mesetas and Uribe, in the department of Meta.

The director of the URT, Andrés Castro, issued a communiqué in which he expressed the pain and bewilderment of the whole entity for the confirmation of these deaths of collaborators in the southern Colombian department.

Subsequently, on May 31, local media reported that the van in which the commission was travelling had been found abandoned in a hamlet that is part of the municipality of La Macarena, an area where armed groups have a strong presence.

Since the bodies were found on July 6, authorities had indicated that there was a high probability that they belonged to the commission, as no missing persons had been reported in Meta in recent weeks.