Nine Colombian FARC Rebels Killed in Military Bombing

President Santos announced “the offensive (against the rebels) continues,” a month after suspending the peace talks because the FARC detained a high-ranking military official.

Nine guerrilla fighters from the leftist group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed on Monday in a military attack that included bombing, official sources reported.

The Colombian military attack against the rebels comes days after the peace negotiations were resumed in Havana, Cuba. They had been suspended by President Juan Manuel Santos after FARC guerrillas detained general Ruben Dario Alzate and two other persons accompanying him. This was one of the greatest crisis the peace talks have been through since they began November 2012.

Despite the resolution of the crisis and the restart of the peace process after the release of Alzate, the Military Forces killed nine guerrilla fighters during an operation backed by the Air Force and the Army in the southeastern department of Meta.

President Santos announced the news via his Twitter account, adding that four FARC members had been “captured” during the military operation.

Since the beginning of the peace talks, the government has systematically rejected the FARC’s proposal for a bilateral cease-fire, claiming the rebels would take advantage of the truce to regroup and reorganize, while the guerrilla leaders argue that the measure is inherent of a peace process. 

A new cycle of the negotiations started on Friday, with the arrival of the fifth and last delegation of victims, composed of social leaders of Afro-descendant communities.

On Sunday, the Colombian government and the FARC also committed themselves to address the sexual aspect of the 50-years conflict they are attempting to put an end to in Cuba.

Six women specialists of gender issues arrived in the Cuban capital in order to provide recommendations to both parties that could then be included in the peace agreements, according to sources close to the negotiators quoted by Cuban press agency Prensa Latina.

Proposals from other feminist organizations should also be conveyed to the negotiations.

“We find crucial the adoption of mechanisms that could guarantee the full satisfaction of [women] rights, as well as their major role in the achievement of peace and national reconciliation,” emphasized the FARC delegation on Monday.

On September 11, the negotiators of both parts set up a sub-commission of gender in a bid to include better issues related to sexual violence during the conflict, especially against women and the LGBT community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender).

This is the very first time in history that peace talks would include gender issues in the final agreements.

Source http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nine-Colombian-FARC-Rebels-Killed-in-Military-Bombing-20141215-0058.html