17 Soldiers and 11 Marxist Rebels Die in Linked Colombian Clashes
Marxist rebels killed at least 17 soldiers during clashes in northwestern Colombia, officials said Wednesday. At least 11 guerrillas also died in the fighting.
Gen. Carlos Alberto Ospina, the nation’s armed forces chief, said two soldiers were wounded and eight others were missing after the third rebel attack on government troops this month.
He said the latest fighting erupted Tuesday when soldiers opened fire on a column of rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which appeared poised to attack the mountain village of Mutata.
Ospina said during a news conference that the 11 rebels had died in that battle and that the others had fled, returning hours later with reinforcements. The 17 soldiers were killed when the guerrillas renewed the fight against the military.
The FARC resumed concerted attacks this month, bouncing back from a year-old offensive ordered by President Alvaro Uribe against the rebels’ jungle strongholds.
On Feb. 1, FARC fighters killed 16 Colombian marines and wounded 25 more when they fired homemade rockets at a base.
The next day, an army patrol drove over explosives planted by the FARC. Eight soldiers and a civilian were killed.
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