15 Die as Paramilitary Fighters, Rebels Clash
Leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary fighters battled in a remote village, leaving 15 people dead, including two children, in a fight over territory and the cocaine trade, authorities said.
The fighting Wednesday was among a cluster of homes in the hamlet of La Esmeralda. The battle left 26 wounded, authorities said.
Col. Humberto Guatibonza, police chief of the state of Putumayo, said the battle apparently was for control of the lucrative cocaine trade in the region near the Ecuadorean border, 340 miles southwest of Bogota.
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