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Colombian rebels kill a dozen soldiers
Bogota, Apr 5 (EFE).- Leftist Colombian rebels killed at least 12 soldiers in fierce
combat in the south, military authorities said Wednesday.
The army high command in Bogota said the troops clashed with guerrillas while
conducting patrols in and around Puerto Rico, in the south-central province of Meta.
That area is part of a large swath of jungle territory where the Andean nation's
armed forces have been engaged for the last two years in Plan Patriota, a big
offensive directed at the leadership of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, the country's largest insurgency.
The deputy army commander, Gen. Hernando Alonso Ortiz, said the 12 fallen
soldiers belonged to the 4th Division and that they were killed Tuesday night in
"intense combat" with FARC fighters.
He said an unknown number of guerrillas also died in the clashes.
Ortiz went on to mention a separate incident in the mountains near the
southwestern town of Buga, where he said three soldiers died in a FARC ambush.
EFE
Bogota, Apr 5 (EFE).- Leftist Colombian rebels killed at least 12 soldiers in fierce
combat in the south, military authorities said Wednesday.
The army high command in Bogota said the troops clashed with guerrillas while
conducting patrols in and around Puerto Rico, in the south-central province of Meta.
That area is part of a large swath of jungle territory where the Andean nation's
armed forces have been engaged for the last two years in Plan Patriota, a big
offensive directed at the leadership of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, the country's largest insurgency.
The deputy army commander, Gen. Hernando Alonso Ortiz, said the 12 fallen
soldiers belonged to the 4th Division and that they were killed Tuesday night in
"intense combat" with FARC fighters.
He said an unknown number of guerrillas also died in the clashes.
Ortiz went on to mention a separate incident in the mountains near the
southwestern town of Buga, where he said three soldiers died in a FARC ambush.
EFE
