BOGOTA, Sept 17 (Askume) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday that a bombing by Colombia’s leftist rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) “effectively” ended peace talks. More than 20 soldiers were injured and two were killed in the attack.
Tuesday’s attack, which took place in Colombia’s rural Arauca province on the Venezuelan border, was the worst since a bilateral ceasefire between the government and the ELN ended in August.
“We have been talking to them about peace since the ELN planted a truck full of explosives, wounding 27 young people and killing two,” Petro said at an event in Bogota.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, resumed peace talks with the National Liberation Army at the end of 2022 as part of his efforts to establish full peace in the country and end the six-year conflict that has killed more than 450,000 people.
The ELN is based in the country’s southwest and is run by the government. Talks have been stalled for months amid a decision to begin separate negotiations with forces that had earlier splintered off from the rebel group.
