Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Saturday called for accelerated peace negotiations with Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, as eight rebels were killed in an escalating government offensive.
Santos made the announcement amid a push by the Colombian military that began on Thursday with a government airstrike killing 26 guerrillas in the southwestern department of Cauca.
Saturday’s deaths brought the offensive’s total fatalities to 34 in two days.
The operation against the FARC in the northern municipality of Segovia also wounded two more fighters, the military said.
However, Santos said he wanted an end to the bloodshed.
“We have to make decisions to stop this war as soon as possible and I’m ready to accelerate negotiations to reach a final and definitive bilateral ceasefire as quickly as possible,” he said, the day after the FARC suspended their six-month unilateral ceasefire.
HAVANA
Government talks under way with the FARC in Havana have carried on for a full year “without any substantial advance,” he said.
“People want to see that we can move forward so that they can have faith that we can achieve peace,” he added.
The peace talks between the government and the FARC, which began in 2012, have been continually derailed by attacks from both sides.
CEASEFIRE
In December last year, the FARC announced a ceasefire, raising hopes that the negotiations were approaching a breakthrough, but tensions have only spiraled since.
On Friday, the FARC suspended their ceasefire in response to the deadly airstrike, while calling for continued dialogue with the government and for both sides to lay down their arms.
The Colombian conflict has killed about 220,000 people and uprooted 5 million since the FARC was founded in 1964.
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