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UN chief sends condolences to Colombian president over deaths of 11 soldiers

Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday spoke to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos over the phone to express his condolences following the deaths of 11 members of the Armed Forces on April 15, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

The spokesman said the secretary-general agreed with President Santos that the incident underscores the need to accelerate the conclusion of a negotiated peace agreement.

Ban "expressed his admiration for President Santos' determination to persevere in the search for peace and reiterated the United Nations' strong support for this process," Dujarric added.

The 11 soldiers were killed and 19 others injured in an attack by guerrillas in Colombia, a violation of the rebels' pledge of a unilateral cease-fire that throws into doubt the future of peace talks.

The attack occurred last week in the volatile southwest department of Cauca, with an army unit on a routine patrol being attacked by guerrillas firing homemade explosives and grenades. A corporal and 10 others were killed during the ambush by a unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, reports said.

President Santos condemned the attack and lifted a month-old suspension of aerial bombings of FARC camps that had been trumpeted as a major milestone in the effort to end a half-century of fighting.

FARC negotiators in Cuba committed in December to a unilateral cease-fire to promote the ongoing talks held in the island nation for two years, saying they would fire weapons only if attacked by the armed forces.

The latest attack is deemed the most serious breach to date and could destroy momentum toward a deal that has been building since FARC shocked much of Colombia in November by releasing an army general it had accidentally captured.

Last month, both sides agreed on a plan to begin jointly removing land mines that litter large parts of the countryside. Soon afterward, the government suspended aerial bombings of guerrilla camps. Endite