Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos and Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon visit wounded soldiers at the Army Third Brigade dispensary in Cali, Colombia, following the attack by Farc guerrillas.

Reuters/Havana

Colombia’s Farc rebels yesterday blamed the Bogota government for renewed violence in Latin America’s longest war and declined to say whether they had broken their own ceasefire with an attack that killed 11 government soldiers a day earlier.
The clash in rural southwestern Cauca province wounded a further 20 soldiers and killed one rebel, the army said. President Juan Manuel Santos called it a deliberate attack while the Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, said it was self-defence against encroaching government forces.
In response, Santos ordered the resumption of bombing raids on Farc targets after he had halted air attacks in recognition of the Farc’s unilateral truce, declared on December 20.
“I have ordered the armed forces to end the order suspending bombing raids against Farc camps until further notice,” said Santos.
“Let this be clear to the Farc: I’m not going to be pressured... by vile acts like this to make a decision on a bilateral ceasefire.”
Despite the violence, the two-year-old peace talks resumed yesterday in Havana, where Colombian government officials and Farc commanders are trying to negotiate an end to a war that has killed 220,000 and displaced millions since 1964.
The Farc had been asking Santos to respond to the rebels’ unilateral ceasefire with a two-way truce, but the president had resisted, citing previous peace talks when the rebels used such ceasefires to rearm.
Farc commander Pablo Catatumbo, speaking to reporters in Havana just before entering the latest session of peace talks, declined to answer a question whether the Farc was lifting its unilateral ceasefire, which it called in December.
“Given the circumstances, with the government refusing to sign a bilateral ceasefire, the only one responsible for the rising number of victims and the persistence of the war is the state. It’s time for serene reflection, not bellicose decisions,” Catatumbo said.
“If this situation (in Cauca) persists, there will be more clashes,” he said.  
Wednesday’s attack occurred in a remote mountainous area in Cauca province.
A senior military official said the infantry troops were ambushed as they conducted a patrol.
“They were attacked with explosives, grenades and firearms,” General Mario Augusto Valencia, the commander of the army’s Third Division, told reporters.
Cauca governor Temistocles Ortega earlier told Blu radio the soldiers came under fire in a hamlet known as La Esperanza.
The wounded were evacuated with the help of the Red Cross and emergency personnel.  
The attack underscored the difficulty of putting an end to the conflict, now over a half century old and easily Latin America’s longest.

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