**Twelve indigenous people have been massacred by armed men in a Colombian area notorious for its cocaine trade, state authorities have said.**At least four children were among those killed in the dawn attack by hooded men in uniforms at an Indian reservation in Narino state.
Officials said a man and a boy were wounded in the shooting but escaped.
Marxist rebels and armed right-wing groups are active in the area, home to large numbers of coca plantations.
The armed men shot the members of a family in two houses in the Gran Rosario reserve, about 80km (50 miles) inland from the port of Tumaco in Narino state, Associated Press news agency reported.
About 1,500 members of the Awa live on the reservation.
The identities of the killers were unknown, and police have offered a reward for information leading to their arrests.
Narino state prosecutor, Alvaro Lara, said the gunmen asked for a woman called The Matron about a purported debt, and then started shooting “at anything that moved.”
Earlier this year 17 Awa people were killed in an attack blamed on left-wing Farc rebels.
A week later 10 members of the Awa tribe were murdered.