The guerrilla group ELN announces a ceasefire

In Colombia, there are more than 700 confirmed cases of covid-19 and 10 people have died as a result of the disease, the BBC reports.

The ceasefire is valid from Wednesday and for a month ahead. But the guerrilla group states that it is open to extend the ceasefire further and resume the previously stranded peace talks with the government.

"We are announcing an active unilateral ceasefire for a month, from April 1 to April 30, as a humanitarian gesture by the ELN with the Colombian people suffering from the devastation caused by the corona virus," the statement reads.

The group states that the decision was made after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on March 23 urged all the warring parties around the world to lay down arms.

The ELN has been fighting the Colombian state since 1964, following a land reform conflict. The target of the attacks is often landowners and multinational companies. The latest fatal attack happened in the capital Bogota last January, when more than 20 police students were killed.

The larger guerrilla movement Farc signed a peace agreement with the government in 2016. But the peace talks with ELN have so far been unsuccessful.