Colombian Farc rebels agree at peace talks to let children aged under 15 leave ranks

Colombia’s government and leftist Farc rebels on Sunday agreed to a roadmap for children under 15 to leave guerilla encampments and re-integrate into civil society, as part of negotiations aimed at ending Latin America’s longest war.

The accord is a first step towards all minors leaving rebel ranks, the two sides said in a joint statement read out at a news conference in Havana, where they have been negotiating a peace deal for more than three years.

The Farc has long been accused by the government and human rights groups of using child solders as cannon fodder.

The rebel group announced last year it would stop recruiting minors, but no deal was reached on handling teenagers and children already in its ranks.

“The deal foresees the Farc handing over information necessary to identify and locate the minors still in these camps and collaborating with [their] exit,” the government’s top negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, said.

The drug-fueled civil war in Colombia has killed some 220,000 people and displaced millions of others since 1964.

The Farc’s forces are estimated at 8,000 guerrillas but it is not known how many might be minors. The group said on Sunday there were 21 children under 15 among its ranks.