Colombia's government and the country's largest group of dissident former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels on Sunday suspended offensive actions and celebrated the start of a peace process meant to end the group's role in almost six decades of internal conflict, the rebel group announced.
The negotiations with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC)—a dissident group of the now-demobilized FARC guerrillas—form part of President Gustavo Petro's efforts to reach "total peace."
The EMC rejected a 2016 peace deal with the state that ended the FARC's role in the conflict, which has killed at least 450,000 people and displaced millions.
The government will issue a formal ceasefire decree on October 16, the day when the exploratory process concludes and peace talks formally begin, the Colombian government and EMC rebels said in a joint statement Sunday.
The two sides have said the ceasefire will initially last 10 months, but they did not mention its length in the statement.
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