Colombia Rebels Kill at Least 13 Officers

Colombia Rebels Kill at Least 13 Officers
By CESAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 50 minutes ago

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.

Since the start of the year, the FARC has launched some of its boldest attacks on the military in two years, killing nearly 100 soldiers and undermining government claims the rebels are being defeated.

On April 6, 17 soldiers were killed when their convoy was attacked in oil-rich Arauca state, in the northeast.

The ferocity of the FARC attacks has led many observers to question President Alvaro Uribe's claims that the rebels have gotten weaker since he ordered a costly, U.S.-backed military buildup upon coming to office more than two years ago.

Army officials maintain the FARC is made up of 12,000 fighters now, down from 18,000 a year ago, due to deaths, captures and desertions brought on by the government offensive.

By Lionheart on May 20, 2005, 01:50 in Politics & the war.

juancegomez says on May 20, 2005, 08:25:

"The ferocity of the FARC attacks has led many observers to question President Alvaro Uribe's claims that the rebels have gotten weaker since he ordered a costly, U.S.-backed military buildup upon coming to office more than two years ago."

At least two things are being confused here...they might not be weak enough to be considered "weak" in absolute terms (and the government has not claimed otherwise), that's been obvious even before these reports began coming in, but they are definitely far weaker and less proactive than they would be otherwise. Think 1996-1998, or even 1999-2000.

Nothing close to what happened back then is going on now, despite the recent increases in the degree of media alarmism.

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gorgonabob says on May 20, 2005, 16:11:

been down that road before i took the medellin - quibdo - tado - pereira route four years back... quite the experience... was chocabloc full of guerillas back then, mostly of the now defunct EPL. the road is hell. from medellin to quibdo its about 250 km and it takes at least 12 hours... if that gives you an idea. the road from quibdo to pereira through tado where the attacks took place is not much better. theres no chance you can secure that road anytime soon. its a jungle out there.. colombia is a hell of a lot safer than it was back in those days... there driving the guerillas out into the whatnots and you aint going to stop these guys attacking from those places anytime soon. ten or twenty soldiers have no chance in these type of places. these guerillas lie in wait in the jungle and bam. goodnight..
when i took the bus down that way four years back it was an amazing site... the towns were controlled by guerillas, we saw literally hundreds of them on the side of the road. half of them kids or women.... good times. i took the road again last year, no guerilla.. Have to check it out again sometime soon

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jpseast says on May 20, 2005, 17:18:

cali to tulua Going to Tulua...does anyone know if the road between Cali airport and tulua is safe?

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