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Armed groups forced at least 270,000 Colombians to flee their homes in the first half of this year, a report by a local human rights group says. The group, Codhes, says this figure represents a 41% increase over 2007, reports the BBC.

Rebels, paramilitaries and drug gangs are all forcing people from their land as they fight for territory to grow cocaine, according to Codhes.

But the government disputes the figures, saying the number of displaced people, while worrying, is falling.

Click here to read more of the BBC dispatch on displaced Colombians, and here for more on Colombia in general.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City