38 Are Killed in Colombia Fighting

Heavy fighting near the border with Venezuela killed at least 38 soldiers and leftist guerrillas, Colombia’s military said Thursday. The army said retreating rebels took refuge in the neighboring South American country.

Elsewhere, guerrillas have occupied a pumping station at a reservoir in Colombia’s southern Andes, cutting the water supply to more than 500,000 people, authorities said.

Seventeen army soldiers and 21 rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have been killed in the fighting, which erupted Wednesday near the town of Tibu and was continuing Thursday. Twelve soldiers were injured.

It was the heaviest combat since peace talks with the FARC collapsed last month when the rebels stepped up their attacks on Colombia’s civilian infrastructure.

Gen. Martin Orlando Carreno said the rebels fled into Venezuela.

The move on the water reservoir late last week, reported only Thursday, was a sharp escalation in a month-old rebel campaign to paralyze Colombia’s infrastructure.

In Washington, the Bush administration asked Congress on Thursday for an additional $29 million to help Colombia combat terrorist kidnappings and expand the reach of its police in a former FARC haven.

The request also seeks to end curbs that limit U.S. military assistance to counter-narcotics activities.