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Two Colombian FARC Rebels Killed in Combat, Military Says


FILE - Humberto de La Calle, head of Colombia's government peace negotiation team, explains changes made to the peace accord during a press conference with Colombia's Peace Commissioner Sergio Jaramillo at the presidential palace in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 15, 2016.
FILE - Humberto de La Calle, head of Colombia's government peace negotiation team, explains changes made to the peace accord during a press conference with Colombia's Peace Commissioner Sergio Jaramillo at the presidential palace in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 15, 2016.

Two Marxist FARC rebels were killed in combat and another surrendered in Colombia's northern Bolivar province when they left their predetermined zone carrying weapons, the military said Wednesday, the first time the bilateral cease-fire has been broken.

Colombia's government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace accord in September that was rejected in a plebiscite last month. The two sides finalized a revised deal over the weekend that aims to end 52 years of conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions.

Thousands of FARC fighters have been left in limbo by the rejection on October 2 of the original peace accord. Until they disarm, rebels remain in predetermined areas and must provide coordinates to the military if they want to leave.

The rebels were extorting people in the area, 68 kilometers (42 miles) from the area of concentration, and were carrying weapons, the military said in a statement.

A decision on how the new accord will be approved has not yet been made, but it appears more likely to go through Congress rather than face another national vote.

President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the cease-fire with the rebels in August.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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