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Colombia Rebels Kill at Least 13 Officers
 Colombian rebels ambushed a police convoy and fought government forces along the border with Ecuador in separate attacks Thursday, killing at least 13 police, authorities said. The latest violence came as the air force announced Thursday that its warplanes had bombed a column of leftist guerrillas trudging through southern jungles over the weekend, killing at least 16 insurgents. The convoy was traveling on a remote jungle road in Choco state, a strategic corridor for arms and drug trafficking through Panama, when hit with a hail of gunfire and explosions, said Choco Deputy Governor Freddy Lloreda. Lloreda blamed the attack on guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has been battling to topple the government here for 40 years. The group funds itself through drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. At least 10 police were killed and three wounded in the ambush near Tado, some 220 miles northwest of Bogota, Lloreda said. Only three police survived.Elsewhere, FARC rebels killed three police officers in fighting along the border with Ecuador. A police unit, responding to explosions they heard along an oil pipeline near the border town of San Miguel, encountered FARC rebels and two hours of combat ensued, said Capt. Carlos Insuasti, police spokesman for the region. He said two other police officers were seriously injured, while the FARC rebels escaped without casualties. Posted by: Fred 2005-05-20 |
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