Colombia's president accuses ELN rebels of war crime, suspends peace talks

PHOTO CAPTION: Colombian team members aim during the sniper section for Fuerzas Comando 2022 Day 2 in La Venta, Honduras, June 14, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Lionel Castellano via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspended peace talks with the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), on Friday, after accusing the group of committing a war crime in the Catatumbo region.

"The dialogue process with this group is suspended, the ELN has no will for peace", Petro said on X.

On Thursday, ELN fighters killed at least five demobilized members of the former FARC rebels who were part of a 2016 peace agreement. The group also launched attacks against members of Estado Mayor Central (EMC), a FARC dissident faction engaged in separate peace talks with the government.

The violence led to civilian displacement and condemnation from the United Nations.

Peace talks between the ELN and the government, which restarted in 2022, have been marred by setbacks. In September, the government suspended negotiations a day after an ELN explosives attack killed two soldiers and wounded 29 near the Venezuelan border.

Talks also stalled when the government opened separate negotiations with an ELN splinter group in the southwest, while the ELN resumed kidnappings, bombings of oil pipelines, and attacks on security forces. 

 (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Natalia Siniawski)