Two Police Killed in Colombia FARC Attack
Two police officers were killed early Friday in a FARC attack in western Colombia, authorities said, amid ongoing peace talks between the rebel group and government.
The attack occurred in the town of Jambalo while the officers were patrolling the area.
"One died at the scene. The other was transferred to the municipality's health center where a half hour later he died," Colonel Ramiro Perez Manzano, police commander of Cauca department, told Colombia's Blu Radio.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has between 7,000 and 8,000 members, has a strong presence in the area, which it has "established as a strategic rear," Perez Manzano said.
At war with Colombia since 1964, the Marxist rebels have been in peace talks with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos for more than a year but there has been no ceasefire agreement.
On Friday, the FARC's lead negotiator proposed negotiating an agreement with the government on the use of explosives, after he was asked whether the FARC was willing to stop use of anti-personnel mines.
The mines have killed at least 2,167 people in Colombia since 1990, according to official data.
"We are willing to agree on an accord on the use of explosives in general," Ivan Marquez told the press, adding that government forces also plant the mines, making it a "reciprocal problem that involves the Colombian Army as well as insurgent forces."
Considered Latin America's longest-running insurgency, the fighting has left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced 4.5 million.
Source: Agence France Presse
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