After one of the biggest military attacks
in Colombia , 19 soldiers where killed in just a single day The Country's security forces have launched
an operation to "capture or kill" the rebel fighters. At the initial
stages of the operation 12 people were captured. The government says that the
ambush was done by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by their
Spanish initials, FARC.
Colombia's President Juan Manuel
Santos has promised significant retaliation from peace talks. He said, Just
as we have extended our hand and in negotiations, so do we have a big stick.
We have decisive military force and will apply it," he said. When he visited
Arauca state on the Venezuelan border, where 15 members of an army battalion
that guards oil facilities were killed in the ambush, The other four soldiers
killed in combat died in the town of Doncello in the southern state of
Caqueta, a traditional stronghold of the FARC.
Santos ordered the military high command to
put "the entire machinery" of war into motion against the FARC. The instructions given to the armed forces
were: not to stop shooting until we have reached the end of this conflict,
because that is how we are going to get to that moment faster, by using blunt
force.
"Our hearts are with the families of
the 15 heroes who sacrificed their lives in Arauca for the tranquility
and security of their fellow citizens," the Colombian president said.
Peace talks
Ongoing negotiations between FARC and
the Colombian government are in doubt due to the latest attacks.
When peace talks were launched in Havana,
the rebels wanted a cease fire but Santos refused.
From 1999 to 2002, the government
granted the FARC a Switzerland-sized safe haven in the country's south for
peace talks that failed.
Residents in Colombia, are not very
supportive of the continuous talks in this environment, but in many ways this
was expected, because since the beginning of the talks Santos said
that no ceasefire was possible with the FARC until a full agreement was
reached,".
Despite frequent rebel attacks, “The
Colombian army has been very active against the rebels in these past months.
According to government figures almost 500 rebels have been captured or
killed in these last few months.
In the recent years, The FARC have been
badly battered and analysts say
chances of ending its nearly half-century-old insurgency have never been
better.
Both sides say they have reached a
preliminary agreement on land reform.
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