Colombia's leading Caracol News network reported the president "lifted the order to suspend the bombing raids by the armed forces against FARC camps."
The government declared a temporary halt to airstrikes in March. The renewed tension came after the rebel group reportedly attacked a military patrol in southwest Cauca department late Tuesday. "The FARC deliberately broke their promise of a unilateral ceasefire," Santos posted via Twitter. "We reject and condemn this vile deed against our soldiers."
Santos traveled to the sites in Cali, Cauca, to hold an emergency meeting with the Minister of Defense Juan Carlos Pinzon, army commanders, local officials.
The commander of the army's third division, Mario Valencia, was expected to present a detailed briefing of the incident and evaluate whether it was safe for Santos to travel to Buenos Aires, the town where the soldiers were ambushed amid a downpour.
According to the army, the soldiers were patrolling the area when they came under attack of grenades and gunfire by the FARC members. Ten soldiers were initially reported killed, with nine others injured, but the death toll was later updated to 11.
The FARC announced a unilateral ceasefire in November, saying it wanted to show goodwill as peace talks continues with the government to end five decades of fighting. The government originally refused to do the same, claiming a let-up in fighting would take the pressure off the rebels to negotiate.
Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
16/4/15
--
-
Related 2014:
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Colombia air strike kills 18 FARC rebels as talks resume...
ReplyDeleteA Colombian air strike killed 18 FARC guerrillas May 21, the deadliest attack since President Juan Manuel Santos lifted a suspension of air strikes against the group last month, an official said.
The air strike raises doubts over peace talks that resumed the same day between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Santos' government.
The stop-start negotiations are aimed at ending the country's decades-long civil conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people.
"It is the first major blow against FARC since President Santos ordered the resumption of air strikes against the guerrillas on April 15," the Defense Ministry official said about the strike, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The offensive continues until peace is achieved hopefully as soon as possible!" said a tweet from Santos' account after the attack.
Talks that first began in 2012 have been continually derailed by attacks from both sides, including the capture of a government general.
Late last year, the FARC declared a one-sided ceasefire to boost the chances of the negotiations, but Santos ordered a resumption of military strikes following a rebel attack last month..AFP....hurriyetdailynews.com
22/5/15
Colombia negotiators urge guerrillas to cease landmine use...
ReplyDeleteMembers of the government’s negotiating team on Thursday each rolled up one pants leg to express solidarity with the family of a schoolgirl who was killed by a landmine.
“This is a true humanitarian tragedy. We must clean Colombian territory. As you all know, the Colombian state stopped using landmines decades ago,” Humberto de la Calle told reporters in Havana where Colombian negotiators and FARC rebels began round 37 of peace talks.
He also called on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to publicly commit to not use landmines as part of a pilot program for a joint humanitarian demining effort agreed between the military and rebels in the last round of dialogues.
“The time has arrived for the FARC to assume the responsibility and not place another landmine. It is paradoxical that while we are about to begin a pilot program of demining that this tragedy should happen and it should be vehemently condemned,” said De la Calle.
Ingrid Guejía Guecio, 7, and a few of her classmates used a short cut on their return home from school Wednesday in the hamlet of Aguaclara. The second-grader stepped on a landmine and was killed. Three of her classmates were also injured in the explosion in the department of Cauca – 48 miles south of the town of Buenos Aires where a FARC attack last month left 11 soldiers dead and 20 others injured.............http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/514445--colombia-negotiators-urge-guerrillas-to-cease-landmine-use
22/5/15
Farc suspends truce after Colombia army attack...
ReplyDeleteColombia's leftist rebel group Farc has suspended a unilateral ceasefire after 26 of its fighters were killed in a government air and ground offensive.
The ceasefire had been in place since December 2014.
President Juan Manuel Santos called on the rebels to "speed up" negotiations taking place in Havana, Cuba.
The two sides have been in on-off negotiations since 2012 in an attempt to end more than half a century of conflict.
Thursday's attack - in the country's south-western Cauca region - was the deadliest since the resumption of air strikes against the rebels last month.
The guerrilla group said in a statement that the ceasefire suspension was the result of "five months of land and air offensives against our structures all over the country".
"We deplore the joint attack by the Air Force, the army and the police," said the statement.
"We feel pain for the deaths of guerrilla fighters as well as soldiers, sons of a same people and from poor families".
But the group said they were willing to continue with the latest round of peace talks in Havana.
"Against our will we will proceed with the (peace) talks in the middle of a confrontation," they said.
They also reiterated their demand for Mr Santos to agree a bilateral ceasefire.
'How many more deaths?'
Mr Santos, who restarted air strikes against the rebels last month after 11 soldiers were killed in an ambush, addressed the rebels via his Twitter account.
He wrote: "Gentlemen of the Farc: now is the time to speed up the negotiations. How many more deaths do we need to understand that we have arrived at the time for peace!" he wrote.
Thursday's military action comprised an air strike and ground assault against the rebel group in Guapi, Cauca, said officials.....BBC