The Colombian border village of Tres Bocas has become a ghost town as residents flee to neighboring Venezuela to escape a new wave of violence that has left at least 80 people dead and displaced thousands in Colombia’s Catatumbo region.

Both the ELN and FARC-EMC have long fought for control over this drug-rich area, but recent violence marks a significant escalation.

At least 80 people are dead and more than 18,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela.

Colombia’s president has issued a decree giving him emergency powers to restore order in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela that has been racked in recent days by a deadly turf war among dissident rebel groups.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday issued a decree that gives him emergency powers to respond to an outbreak of deadly violence between rival armed groups in the north-eastern Catatumbo region.