Ivan Marquez, the leader of Colombia's largest rebel group Farc, has just announced his organization will discharge all fighters who are under the age of 15.

Stating that there are as of now 13 children younger than 15 fighting in Farc, Marquez informed a radio program that the recruitment of children was not a part of the Marxist group's policy, BBC reports.

Farc has been in talks with the Colombian government, and this announcement comes less than a week after they announced that they would stop recruiting children younger than 17 years of age.

One of the Farc negotiators that spoke at peace talks in the Cuban capital, Ivan Marquez, explained to Colombian's Caracol Radio that "after internal consultation with the guerrilla structures across the country, the Farc leadership could determine there were only 13 fighters younger than 15" fighting within their ranks. These children fighters, according to the Farc leader, were allegedly either the offspring of guerrilla fighters or joined the rebel group after they were orphaned.

Marquez stated that the children would be "discharged from the war within a short period of time."

Farc, who recently invited the Colombian-born Miss Universe to meet them in Havana for their peace talks, have been accused by human rights groups of forcibly recruiting children for years.

Figures released by Colombia's Ministry of Defence, as detailed by the BBC, reveal that since 2002 more than 2,600 children under the age of 18 (most between 16 and 17 years old) have left the communist fighters.

Farc, which has been involved in a bloody conflict since 1964, has been engaged in peace talks with Colombian government since November 2012. Both sides have come to partial agreements on issues such as drugs trade, land reform and political participation.

The Guardian reports the 50 years of conflict between the rebels and the Colombian government has left at least 200,000 people dead and about 6 million people displaced.

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