Colombia’s second largest insurgency group ELN has asked forgiveness for killing two oil contractors earlier this month, promising to take “measures for the future, so these serious errors are not repeated.”
PROFILE: ELN
On September 17, ELN conducted a bombing on an oil company in a rural area of Teorama, a municipality in the northof Colombia, bordering Venezuela. Subsequently, the rebels killed two oil contractors in charge of repairing the destroyed oil pipe.
“It is not the policy of the ELN to affect the working man with its political-military actions, for which we lament these deaths,” said the ELN in a statement published on its website.
According to the rebels, the deaths of the workers was “produced by individual command errors.”
“We ask for forgiveness of their family and friends. Within our internal laws, we will take measures to insure that in the future, these grave mistakes are not repeated,” the group said.
The killings were condemned by the UN.
MORE: UN condemns ‘ELN attacks’ on indigenous leaders, oil workers
The 50-year-old guerrilla group and the government announced the beginning of peace talks in June, five days before elections in which President Juan Manuel Santos was elected for a second term.
MORE: Colombia govt, ELN rebels announce formal peace talks
However, since then no progress on the talks have been reported by either the government or the ELN.