Colombian rebels kill nine soldiers in blow to peace talks
Preliminary military assessment has identified the left-wing ELN as responsible for the attack in a northern province.
An attack by the Colombian rebel group known as the National Liberation Army (ELN) reportedly killed nine government soldiers.
The attack, one of the deadliest in recent months, took place on Wednesday in the rural state of Norte de Santander, near the border with Venezuela. It came more than two weeks after the government and the ELN held a second round of ceasefire negotiations in Mexico City.
“A peace process must be serious and accountable to Colombian society,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Twitter. The ELN has not yet commented on the attack.
Petro has pledged to pursue “total peace” and to turn away from the militarized approach of his predecessors. Upon taking office, he pushed for negotiations to end fighting between the Colombian government and armed groups that have been active in Colombia for decades.
Wednesday’s deadly attack could reverse those efforts. Petro condemned the violence, stating that those who carried it out were “far from peace”. Seven of the dead were soldiers doing their national service and two were officers, he added.
Eight other soldiers were injured in the attack, which included the use of improvised explosive devices and long-range weapons.
Colombia’s internal conflict stretches back nearly six decades, with government forces, right-wing paramilitaries, organized crime groups and left-wing rebel groups vying for control of the territory. More than 450,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
In 2016, a historic peace deal ended fighting between the government and the country’s largest leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
In its long-awaited report, released in 2022, Colombia’s Truth Commission sharply criticized the state’s militarized approach to the drug war over the continuation of the conflict.
Petro, himself a former rebel, said at the time that the conclusions could not be used to create “space for revenge”. He called for a new approach to ending violence, with an emphasis on dialogue.
However, violence and displacement continue to plague civilians in parts of the country where armed groups and criminal organizations fight for control of lucrative resources such as drug routes and illegal mining activities.
A Red Cross report released last week found that more than 180,000 civilians were displaced by 2022, though it also concluded that violence between the state and armed groups had declined. He welcomed efforts to negotiate ceasefire agreements.