Colombia, FARC rebels issue joint statement pledging to de-escalate attacks

HAVANA, July 12 (UPI) -- The Colombian government said Sunday it would roll back military operations against FARC rebels if the leftist guerrillas fulfilled their promise last week of a unilateral cease-fire.

Negotiators from both sides issued the joint statement in Havana, Cuba, where talks have been ongoing since 2012.

Last week the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, announced a month-long cease-fire starting on July 20 with the hopes of an eventual truce. It is the sixth cease-fire agreement since the talks began three years ago.

The Colombian government has in the past rejected such agreements on grounds the FARC would take advantage of a lull to make military gains.

At the time of FARC's announcement, four nations involved in the Havana talks -- Cuba, Norway, Chile and Venezuela -- urged for the "rapid de-escalation of the armed conflict," which has raged in Colombia for more than 50 years and killed hundreds of thousands.

Both sides will assess the new agreement in four months time, according to the joint statement.

The agreement comes amid clashes between the Colombian authorities and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, another Marxist group operating in the country.

One day prior to the FARC's announcement of a cease-fire, Colombia's National Police said it had arrested 15 people, including suspected members of the ELN, in connection with bombing attacks in Bogota last year.

Last month, the Colombian armed forces said it killed Jose Amin Hernandez Manrique, a high-level ELN commander also known as "Marquitos," during an operation in the country's northwest.