The heaviest blow to the organization since the resumption of peace negotiations initiated by the government of President Gustavos Petros
Nine alleged ELN fighters were killed by members of the Colombian armed forces during an “offensive operation”, which dealt the heaviest blow to the organization since the resumption of peace negotiations initiated by the government of President Gustavo Petro, it was officially announced yesterday in Bogota .
The operation, which was carried out by special forces of the navy, took place on Friday, in a rural area of the municipality of Buenaventura (southwest), where “during fighting, nine alleged ELN fighters were killed”, the head of the general told the press of the Colombian National Defense Staff, General Elder Giraldo.
One soldier, who was injured during the fighting, surrendered, the senior officer added.
The National Liberation Army (ELN, Guberrists), officially the last rebel organization continuing the armed struggle in the Latin American state, has been holding peace talks since the end of 2022 with the government of President Petro.
But the negotiations, which began in neighboring Venezuela, stumbled in early January after Mr. Petro announced – prematurely – on New Year’s Eve that a mutual ceasefire had been concluded, which the ELN later denied, saying that the talks had entered a “crisis ».
Since then, Colombian army forces have killed a total of 10 ELN rebels (including the nine in Friday’s operation) and captured another 21, according to the chief of general staff. “These operations will continue,” he commented.
Government and rebel delegations are expected to meet again in mid-February in Mexico for a new round of negotiations, with a bilateral truce on the agenda.
Mr Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president who took office in August, aims to achieve “complete peace” after six decades of war through negotiations with the armed groups that operate in the country and are generally involved in trafficking. drugs. The plan to achieve this “complete peace” also covers drug-trafficking gangs, on the condition that they agree to hand themselves over to the authorities and be brought to justice, in exchange for more favorable treatment.
The main FARC dissident groups (Second Marquetalia, Central General Staff) that reject the 2016 peace agreement, as well as two far-right paramilitary organizations that have been reincarnated as drug-trafficking gangs (Clan del Golfo, Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada) still adhere to the bilateral ceasefire with the security forces.
RES-EMP
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