Colombia suspends ceasefire with FARC guerrilla faction

The Colombian government will suspend a ceasefire with a faction of what was once the armed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, it said on Thursday, though it said the decision did not imply the end of peace talks with the group.

The ceasefire between the government and the FARC-EP group expired earlier this week. An extension was expected to be agreed upon, but failed to be settled in time.

The ceasefire had been in effect since December 2023 and had been extended several times. Now, both parties have 72 hours to move to locations where they will take up their own security and protection measures, as agreed on.

The peace talks with this branch of the FARC, with around 1,500 members, are part of President Gustavo Petro's efforts to end a six-decade-long armed conflict that has left more than 450,000 people dead.

Still, his government has made little progress since he took office in 2022.

There was no immediate reaction to the ceasefire's end from the FARC-EP or its leader, Alexander Diaz Mendoza, who goes under the pseudonym Calarca Cordoba.

Peace talks now hang in a fragile balance, security analysts say.

The other group which splintered off from the FARC is not currently involved in peace talks with the government, which has doubled down on a military offensive against militants hiding in the jungles and mountains.

Leftist guerrillas, as well as members of former far-right paramilitary groups which have now turned into gangs, lead Colombia's cocaine trafficking and illegal gold mining.