President Gustavo Petro unilaterally suspended a ceasefire with guerrilla group EMC in southern Colombia in response to a massacre.
The suspension allows the military to resume operations in the part of Colombia where the FARC dissident organization is strongest.
Petro made the decision in response to the massacre of four minor victims of forced recruitment in the Putumayo province.
The decision was made without consulting the multipartite system that was put in charge of verifying alleged violations of the ceasefire last month.
The Peace Commissioner’s Office blamed the EMC of the massacre that was allegedly carried out in retaliation to the escape of the forcibly recruited kids from an indigenous community.
In a response, the EMC said that Petro’s decision “will unleash war and multiple the number of deaths, injured and prisoners.
The EMC added that the ceasefire in effect had been unilateral since the beginning because of alleged attacks by paramilitary groups against the organization of former FARC commander “Ivan Mordisco.”
Petro order the bilateral ceasefire in January in response to an order given by Mordisco in August last year to unilaterally cease fire against the security forces.
The multilateral ceasefire banned hostilities against civilians and sought to facilitate peace talks between the FARC dissident organization and the Petro administration.