Colombia’s armed forces have resumed military operations against the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) after a ceasefire deal expired, the defense minister said Monday.
The truce between the guerrilla group and the Colombian government ended on Saturday, and it was not clear if it would be renewed, despite the two parties being in peace talks.
“Offensive operations are resumed. And that is the order of the general commander of the Armed Forces,” Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said in a statement.
After the ceasefire ended, the ELN’s peace delegation accused the Colombian government of non-compliance with agreements signed during negotiations since the end of 2022.
It said it would consider the renewal of a truce if the government removed the ELN from its official register of organized armed groups.
“This is a matter that can always be the subject of discussion,” Velasquez said when asked about ELN’s demands.
Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, who was elected in 2022, has sought to put an end to six decades of fighting by negotiating with guerrillas and some powerful gangs.
But experts believe the attempt to disarm the roughly 5,800 ELN members is moving too slowly.
The ELN, a Marxist guerrilla group inspired by the Cuban revolution, has taken part in failed negotiations with Colombia’s last five governments.
The much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, signed a peace agreement with the government in 2016.
Six decades of armed conflict in Colombia have left 9.5 million people displaced, murdered, kidnapped, or missing.