The National Coordinator of the Bolivarian Army (CNEB), one of five dissident groups of Colombia's former FARC guerrilla movement, handed over its first batch of armaments as a sign of goodwill in talks with the Colombian government, both sides said on Wednesday.

The delivery of explosives, grenades, mortars and other munitions, part of a total 14 tons CNEB has committed to hand over, marks the most significant advance by leftist President Gustavo Petro in efforts to end a six-decade conflict that has killed more than 450,000 people. The CNEB includes about 2,000 combatants and collaborators.

Petro met with leaders of the rebel group at a ceremony in the southern town of Puerto Asis. The war materiel was destroyed in a controlled detonation by the National Army in a rural area of the jun

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