Bogotá, November 2 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Colombia's rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) have called on President Juan Manuel Santos to accept a bilateral cease-fire within the context of peace talks with them, officials said late Sunday. 

"We insist on a bilateral cease-fire that along with the start of a phase of peace talks could create a favorable environment," the Central Command of the ELN published on Twitter.  They warned, however, that without a truce in place, their operations would continue. 

With some 2,500 members, the ELN is the second-largest rebel group in Colombia after the FARC rebels, with whom the government has been negotiating a peace agreement since 2012. 

More than 220,000 people have lost their lives and millions have been displaced in over five decades of armed conflict between government forces, rebels, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.