A REBEL group called the Commoners of the South has begun surrendering its weapons to Colombia’s government, the Defence Ministry said at the weekend.

The handover is linked to peace talks expected to lead to the group’s complete disarmament in the coming months.

The group, comprising about 250 fighters operating in Colombia’s south-western Narino province, has been in negotiations with the government since last year.

“This is a historic moment,” Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday at a ceremony in the town of Pasto, where several accords with the group were outlined by officials.

Over the past two days, the Commoners of the South has handed over landmines, grenades and rockets to an army unit that is destroying them, Mr Sanchez said.

He added: “Farmers will be able to walk without the fear of coming across a minefield.”

The Commoners of the South used to be part of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a group of about 6,000 guerillas that is still fighting the government, but it broke away last year and began peace talks with the administration of President Gustavo Petro. 

Mr Petro has been holding peace talks with nine separate rebel groups and drug-trafficking gangs under a strategy known as “total peace.”