Colombia

The Colombian army has apologised for killing thousands of civilians and falsely passing them off as left-wing guerrillas to boost its kill rate during the country's armed conflict.

The Colombian government and the left-wing rebel group EMC-Farc have agreed to resume peace talks and implement a 10-month ceasefire. The EMC-Farc is an off-shoot of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a group formed in the 1960's as the armed wing of the Communist Party.

Another five people, including a teenage girl from an Indigenous community, were injured in the clashes between dissidents of the now-disarmed FARC guerrilla group and the National Liberation Army (ELN), according to the governor of the eastern Arauca department.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said that Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa accused guerrilla group ELN of planning his assassination for political reasons.

The National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group denied Thursday that it plotted to kill Colombia's Attorney General Francisco Barbosa. … The ELN denied planning an attack but accused Barbosa of “sabotaging” peace talks that have been ongoing between the government and the guerrilla group since President Gustavo Petro was elected last year.

Amid Colombia’s ongoing efforts to establish peace with several domestic armed groups, the Security Council today expanded the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in that country to monitor and verify the implementation of a ceasefire between the Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN). To that end, the Council — through the unanimous adoption of resolution 2694 (2023) — authorized the addition of up to 68 international observers to the Mission, as well as “an appropriate civilian component taking into account existing resources where possible”.

Efforts towards building peace in Colombia following decades of conflict are bearing fruit but the threat of renewed violence still looms, the head of the UN Mission in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Colombia’s largest rebel group said it will stop attacks on the nation’s military as it prepares for a ceasefire with the government that could bring both sides closer to ending five decades of war.

[…] The period was marked by continued efforts to advance peace by Colombian authorities and civil society, as reflected in actions to implement the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, the approval of key policies and legislation and the continuation of dialogue initiatives to address ongoing conflict-related violence.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro and ELN commander “Antonio Garcia” announced a six-month ceasefire between the guerrillas and the security forces. The ceasefire was negotiated by government and rebel representatives who are in Cuba to negotiate and end to almost 60 years of armed conflict.