At least 5 FARC rebels killed in Colombian army operation

At least five members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group have been killed in a military operation in the country’s northwest.

According to Colombian military sources, the rebels were killed in a bombing in the remote Choco department on Monday. The military sources, however, did not provide further details about the attack.

Colombia has intensified operations against the FARC in recent days amid peace talks between the rebels and the government in the Cuban capital of Havana.

The new operations against the rebel group come weeks after President Juan Manuel Santos lifted a suspension of airstrikes on FARC positions in April.

The government had briefly suspended raids on rebel positions, but restarted them after the FARC killed 11 soldiers in Cauca Province last month.

The FARC rebels have also launched a string of deadly attacks against the Colombian military over the past few months.

Meanwhile, the government and FARC rebels resumed peace talks in Havana on Monday to end the five-decade conflict in the Latin American country, which has so far killed over 200,000 people.

The peace talks had started in 2012, but have on different occasions been derailed by attacks from both sides.

Founded in 1964, the FARC is Latin America’s oldest rebel group believed to have about 8,000 members.