Colombian government and Farc rebels reach deal on disappeared

Many thousands of people have gone missing during the 50-year conflict

Colombia's government and Farc rebels have agreed measures to find people who disappeared during the country's decades-long civil war.

The government estimates more than 50,000 people are still missing.

The two sides will work together in a specialised unit to recover remains of those killed from unmarked mass graves and locate those still alive.

The issue was a key sticking point in negotiations to agree a broader peace deal.

The International Committee of the Red Cross will also help in the search for the disappeared.

It is set to be a harrowing process for the victims' families, and for Colombia as a whole, the BBC's Will Grant reports.

Last month, the Farc and the government agreed a deadline of six months for a peace agreement to be signed, a moment which was marked by the first public handshake between the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, and the leader of the Farc, Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko.

On 1 October the Farc announced a halt to the rebels' military training.

Colombia's armed conflict

Farc rebels have been fighting the government since 1964

•An estimated 220,000 killed

•More than five million internally displaced

•More than seven million registered victims

•About 8,000 Farc rebels continue fighting

Sources: Unit for Attention and Reparation of Victims, Colombian government

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