Colombian rebels suspend ceasefire after army kills 26

Colombia's FARC rebels on Friday suspended their months-old unilateral ceasefire after 26 insurgents were killed in an army bombing raid on a guerrilla camp in the southwestern province of Cauca, Spanish news agency Efe reported.

Suspension of the unilateral and indefinite ceasefire, declared as part of peace talks with the Colombian government, "was not under consideration, but the incoherence of (President Juan Manuel) Santos's administration has made it happen", the high command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said in a statement.

Datelined from the "mountains of Colombia", it said the decision was made after "five months of ground and aerial offensives" against rebel positions nationwide.

Santos, who announced the resumption of bombing raids on FARC camps after 11 soldiers were killed in a FARC attack on an army patrol in April, said on Friday that 26 FARC guerrillas were killed in Thursday's airstrike in a rural area of Guapi, a municipality in Cauca.

Even though the guerrillas announced the unilateral ceasefire on December 20, 2014, the government reiterated at that time that it would continue to pursue military action against the rebels while the peace talks - begun in November 2012 in Havana - are being held.

In announcing the results of the bombing raid, Santos said military operations against the FARC "will not cease".

The FARC had said repeatedly since late December that it might suspend its unilateral ceasefire because of numerous military operations resulting in rebel deaths.

One of the FARC's peace negotiators, Pastor Alape, said on Twitter that the bombing raid took place while the rebel fighters were asleep and was a "treacherous and degrading" action.

The FARC's high command, on its part, said in its statement that "the deaths of guerrillas and soldiers... from poor families are equally painful" and called for "stopping this bloodshed" that persists after 50 years of armed conflict.

"Against our will, we have to proceed with the (peace talks) amid confrontation," the FARC added.

The insurgents said, however, they would continue to insist on a bilateral ceasefire "for the health of the peace process and to avoid more victims".