Army air strike kills 18 FARC rebels in Colombia
An air strike carried out by the Colombian army has killed at least 18 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group in the western part of the country.
A senior official from the Colombian Defense Ministry said on condition of anonymity that the attack took place in Guapi in the western Cauca region on Thursday.
The air raid came weeks after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón lifted a suspension of air strikes on FARC positions.
“It is the first major blow against FARC since President Santos ordered the resumption of air strikes against the guerrillas on April 15,” added the Defense Ministry official.
The Thursday air raid targeted a rebel unit that allegedly killed an army lieutenant on Gorgona Island in November, according to the source.
The FARC rebels have also launched a series of deadly attacks against the Colombian military in recent months. At least 11 Colombian soldiers were killed and nearly 20 others injured in a deadly attack on a garrison last month.
The developments come amid peace talks between the rebels and the Colombian government.
In December 2014, FARC launched an indefinite, unilateral ceasefire in an effort to boost the talks, which began in Havana in November 2012. Bogota, in response, halted all air raids on rebel encampments.
The peace talks have so far produced only partial accords on several issues but have yet to yield a final deal to end a half-a-century-old conflict between the rebels and the government.
FARC is Latin America’s oldest rebel group and has been fighting the government since 1964.
The rebel organization is thought to have around 8,000 fighters operating across a large swathe of the eastern jungles of the Andean country.
The five-decade-long conflict in Colombia has led to the death of over 200,000 people while more than five million have been uprooted.
JR/MKA/HMV
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