Since peace talks with the FARC, Colombia’s largest left-wing insurgency group were formally inaugurated in October of 2012 in Norway, 845 guerrillas have reportedly been “neutralized,” claimed the Colombia’s minister of defense.
According to Juan Carlos Pinzon, in just over three months 845 rebels have been neutralized. The defense minister claimed that 426 were captured, among them, four commanders. Pinzon also said that 320 had voluntarily demobilized and 99 were killed in combat.
In the fight against narcotrafficking, the quotable minister of defense said that 207 tons of cocaine worth an estimated $6.6 million had been seized in what was lauded as “the largest seizure in history.”
Despite reported progress at the peace talks in Havana, Cuba, there has been a recent escalation of aggressive activity from the FARC. The guerrillas on Thursday killed four soldiers and allegedly broke their promise not to kidnap civilians as they purportedly took three engineers who were working for a Canadian-based oil company in southwestern Colombia.
BACKGROUND: FARC kill 4 soldiers, ‘kidnap’ 3 civilians in southwest Colombia
