Heavy fighting between leftist guerrillas and their right-wing paramilitary foes in north west Colombia has forced more than 2,000 mainly villagers from their homes, the UN said today.

Three children were among the 16 people killed when a small plane crashed in Colombia.

A 40-year-old Irishman has died in Colombia in a gunfight between the country’s army and its second-largest left-wing guerrilla group, the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional.