BOGOTA, Colombia -- (AFP) -- At least 69 people have been killed in a week
             of fighting between leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in northern Colombia,
             authorities said.

             The clashes have driven more than 3,600 people from their homes, including
             around 2,000 children, the government ombudsman said Monday.

             The situation is serious, and the worst of it is that government assistance still has to
             reach the refugees, ombudsman Jose Castro told reporters.

             Involved in the bloody firefights, he said, were the paramilitary group known as the
             Self-Defense Units of Colombia and the country's two main rebel groups, the
             Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army.

             The combats are taking place in Bolivar state on the Caribbean, Castro said.

             According to the Self-Defense Units, one of its fighters and 19 guerrillas have been
             killed in combat, Castro said.

             The northern region of Colombia has been a constant battleground between
             guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers, with the rural civilian population
             sometimes faring the worst.