BOGOTÁ: A Colombian guerilla group on Saturday urged delegations not to attend the COP16 biodiversity summit beginning in the southwestern city of Cali on October 21, after Bogota launched a military offensive against the rebels.

“Faced with the war with which (the authorities) responded to our desire for peace for COP16, we invite delegates from the national and international community to refrain from attending this event,” the Central General Staff (EMC) group said in a post on social media platform X.

Around 12,000 people, including representatives from some 200 countries, are expected to be at the UN-led conference. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said Saturday that “the security of COP16 is guaranteed.”

The EMC’s message comes in the wake of a military raid that wounded around 17 people in the village of El Plateado in the Cauca department, where the armed group is active. A dissident faction of the disbanded FARC guerilla group, the EMC has already threatened the summit, saying in July that it “will fail even if they militarize the city with gringos (Americans).”