Colombian president Gustavo Petro is warning that his nation's military will take offensive actions against the National Liberation Army after the rebels, known as the ELN, unleashed a wave of attacks in the country's northeast that left dozens of people killed and forced thousands to flee their homes.

The National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas are targeting community leaders and former members of a separate rebel group in the northeastern Catatumbo region, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said on Sunday,

Colombia has suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, for second time in less than a year after blaming the rebel group for violence that has been affecting a northeastern region of the country in recent days.