Colombia Troops Attack Leftist Guerrilla Bases; 31 Reportedly Killed in Gun Battles
Army units and police attacked leftist guerrilla bases in two areas Saturday, using tanks and mortars in battles that radio reports said took a heavy toll in life and property.
Radio stations said at least 31 people were killed--23 in one gunbattle and eight in another--but the government had no immediate comment on the reported death toll and independent confirmation could not be made.
Caracol Radio said the worst fighting appeared to have been in the Uraba region of extreme northwest Colombia, where government troops attacked a hideout of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, a rebel group also known as FARC, in a search for two kidnap victims.
Twenty-two FARC gunmen and a soldier were reported killed in the assault, the radio said. Three soldiers were wounded.
The troops reportedly confiscated a broad range of weapons.
In the city of Cali, about 200 miles southwest of Bogota, about 1,000 army troops and police officers attacked leftist guerrillas from the M-19 group with tanks and mortar fire.
Radio reports said five civilians, two soldiers and a policeman were killed in the fighting in the city’s slums.
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