The victims were in their homes Saturday morning when several armed men forced them to move into the courtyards where they were shot dead, a statement said of the killings that took place in the state of Trujillo.

The suspects fled the scene in cars and motorcycles, according to the statement.

The victims included adult males aged 18 to 76 and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17.

The Colombian national was identified as 76-year-old Alberto Diaz Patino.

Two prosecutors have been assigned to the case.

In March, an armed group killed 17 miners in the town of Tumeremo in far southeastern Venezuela near the border with Brazil.

Their bodies were later found in a pit.

Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in the world that is not at war, with 58 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 according to prosecutors, although the nongovernmental Venezuelan Violence Observatory says the rate is much higher.

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