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military of Colombia killed six guerrillas in combat THE N near the border with Venezuelaa few weeks after a bilateral ceasefire that will start on August 3, the Defense Minister reported on Tuesday.
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There is “six members of that organization dead, four men, two women (…) operations are still continuing” in the department of arauca (east) pointed Ivan Velasquez to the media.
This is one of the government’s biggest blows to the National Liberation Army (ELN), that since November has been holding peace talks with the president Gustavo Petro.
The parties signed a bilateral ceasefire on June 9 in Havana. As agreed in the presence of the Colombian president and his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Military Forces and the rebels will cease hostilities from August 3 for six months.
If fulfilled, it will be the longest truce since the Foundation in 1964 of that Guevarist-inspired guerrilla. The UN and other international entities had applauded the unprecedented agreement.
He THE N has historically been reluctant to lay down the guns and mistrusts governments, including the Petrothe first leftist in power Colombia.
This Tuesday your commander, antonio garciaassured on Twitter that specialized army groups were deploying in regions where the guerrillas have been based for decades, such as the department of arauca.
“It is known that they will not comply with the orders to stop the military and intelligence actions (…) They are already located in specific territories and ready to act militarily against the THE Nthe objectives to attack are defined”, Garcia wrote without referring to the six casualties.
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tensions
The negotiating table has gone through several moments of tension. In January the ELN publicly confronted Petro by refusing to be part of another trucein which the president included the five main illegal armed groups in the country.
Clashes continued, especially in the region close to the border line with Venezuela, where subversive groups operate trafficking cocaine and exploiting illegal mines.
In April, the insurgents launched an attack with long arms and explosives that left ten dead soldiers. Since then, the government’s main request was to agree to a ceasefire.
Petro tries to deactivate half a century of armed conflict through dialogue with all irregular groups. His critics point out that the armed groups take advantage of this situation to strengthen themselves.
The government also maintained a truce with the Central General Staff, the main dissidence of the former guerrilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
But guerrillas who refused to sign the 2016 peace agreement murdered four indigenous children in May and Petro reactivated offensive operations in some departments in the south of the country, where their leaders live.
The cessation of hostilities also failed with the gulf clanthe poster of drug trafficking who according to the authorities allied with illegal miners of gold to attack the population and the public force in the department of antioch (northwest).
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
