The Colombian government said on Friday that as many as 1,371 anti-government guerrillas were disarmed in the first half of this year.

According to a report released by the government, 1,083 rebels who laid down their weapons were from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 280 from the National Liberation Army (ELN), and 8 from other paramilitary groups.

Colombian guerrilla groups, led by the FARC and the ELN, have been fighting government troops for more than 40 years.

Some 1,180 of the disarmed rebels surrendered themselves to the Colombian Army and National Police, 135 to the National Security Department, and others to domestic institutions, said the report.

The Colombian government promised that the former guerilla fighters would be treated properly under the Humanitarian Attention Program to Demobilization.

Since President Alvaro Uribe, who put the demobilization of guerrillas in Colombia as his priority, took office on Aug. 7, 2002, 19,288 Colombian rebels had been disarmed so far.

Source: Xinhua