Colombian rebel group Farc has announced a unilateral ceasefire for 30 days, commencing on December 15, a day after 9 people were killed in a car bomb attack on a police station.
The government has refused to cease attacks on the rebels without a conclusion to the peace talks which started last year. This is the second time that Farc has unilaterally declared a ceasefire.
"Soldiers and policemen shed their blood unnecessarily, while the perplexed general public watches this strange cocktail of dialogue and death with which the government sees the reconciliation through," read a document signed by the Farc high command.
The government reacted defiantly to the bomb attack, which killed 5 soldiers and a policeman.
"We have to keep on the offensive, not give them a minute's rest, not a minute's truce so they don't have the capability of committing acts like [the attack]," President Juan Manuel Santos said.
Talks between the two parties will continue in Cuba on Sunday.