Colombia has announced plans to protect demobilised members of the FARC rebel force, whose leaders say some of their ex-fighters have been murdered.<br/><br/>The 7,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have disarmed under a peace deal and are preparing to enter civilian and political life. Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said yesterday that the government would send thousands of troops to protect the 26 FARC demobilisation zones across the country.<br/><br/>President Juan Manuel Santos declared Colombia's 50-year conflict with the FARC finally over on Tuesday, as the last truckloads of decommissioned weapons rolled away to be melted down. The leftist rebel force has said it will officially transform into a political party on September 1 under the peace deal signed last year.