World Bulletin / News Desk

Colombian prosecutors accused the ELN rebels Monday of "massacring" five people in an attack aimed at taking control of the narcotics trade in a remote, impoverished region.

Prosecutor General Nestor Martinez said seven guerrillas wearing camouflage and ELN arm bands attacked the northeastern town of Litoral de San Juan on Saturday, killing five people and forcing 52 from their homes.

"The country cannot return to the days of watching massacres," he said in a press conference.

The accusation is the latest blow to President Juan Manuel Santos's efforts to make peace with the ELN, the last active rebel group in a 53-year-old civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people and left 60,000 missing.

The government, which is currently implementing a historic peace deal with rival guerrilla group FARC, opened formal talks with the ELN in February, but hostilities continue on the ground.

The ELN has an estimated 1,500 fighters.