As peace talks continue in Cuba between the Colombian government and the country’s oldest rebel group, so too, apparently, does the fighting back in Colombia.
On Monday, five policemen were killed and three more injured in the central state of Antioquia following an ambush allegedly carried out by the FARC rebel group.
The police unit in question was reportedly attacked with explosives in gunfire took place in the rural municipality of Taraza, 138 miles from the state capital of Medellin.
According to Colombian newspaper El Espectador, official reports state that the policemen were providing security for a group that was eradicating an illegal narcotics plantation in the small town of Barro Blanco when they were attacked.
“This type of terrorist activity will not undermine the commitment of all the homeland’s policemen in pursuit of safeguarding the lives, honour and property of the Colombian people,” said National Police General Rodolfo Palomino, as quoted in El Espectador.
“May our companions rest in peace and may there be solidarity for their families,” the general said.
Army units deployed to the area to avoid new attacks are said to be working to determine the location of the FARC group believed to be responsible for the deaths.
The FARC and the Colombian government are negotiating a possible peace agreement that would end the more than 50-year conflict between the state and the Marxist rebel group. The talks, which opened in November of 2012, are taking place in Havana, Cuba, and currently focus on the issue of illicit narcotics cultivation, the third of six scheduled agenda items.
MORE: Colombia government and FARC rebels close in on deal on drug trafficking
No ceasefire agreement was put in place prior to the start of talks, and both parties have continued offensive campaigns against the other.
Taraza
Sources
- Cinco policías muertos en emboscada de las Farc en Antioquia (El Espectador)
- Cinco policías muertos deja emboscada de las Farc en Tarazá (El Colombiano)
- Emboscada de las Farc deja 5 policías muertos en Antioquia (El Universal)