The Colombian Army has reported that nine members of two armed groups operating in the western department of Chocó have surrendered to authorities as part of law enforcement operations in the region in recent weeks.
Colonel Geovanni Andres Cortes of the 15th Brigade detailed that seven of them belong to the Gulf Clan, while the other two are part of the ‘Nestor Tulio Duran’ structure of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, with whom the government has begun negotiations, according to RCN radio station.
It should be noted that the government has signed a bilateral ceasefire with both armed groups until at least June 30, as part of the interest shown by them and other illegal organizations to reach some kind of agreement.
Between the ELN and the Clan del Golfo there are already more than a hundred members who in recent months have presented to the authorities their renunciation of arms due to «intense campaigns» by the forces of law and order.
In total there are about eighty members of the Clan del Golfo and about twenty ELN guerrillas who have surrendered and shown interest in submitting to «constitutional norms and duties», explains the Army. In this sense, the Colombian authorities have once again insisted on their appeal to these groups «to lay down their arms and follow the path of legality».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
