Bogotá, May 22 (RHC) –- Colombia's largest rebel group is ending a unilateral cease-fire in response to a military raid on a guerrilla camp that killed 26 of its fighters, Associated Press reports.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia says it hadn't wanted to lift the five-month-old ceasefire, but that the constant military pursuit of the rebels makes it a necessity.

Friday's announcement does not mean the rebels are walking away from ongoing peace talks in Cuba.

The attack Thursday involved both military and police and took place in Guapi in the Cauca region of western Colombia, a FARC stronghold.

Meanwhile, Santos has replaced his defense minister Juan Carlos Pinzon Tuesday, a man some analysts said clashed with the president’s goal of hammering out a peace deal with the FARC by 2018. The current ambassador to the U.S., Luis Carlos Villegas, was named as Pinzon’s replacement.

Eleven days of talks in Havana are now slated to discuss compensation for victims of the conflict.