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At least 21 dead in Colombian rebel attack

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Marxist rebels killed at least nine civilians and destroyed buildings with homemade mortars and a car bomb in a ferocious raid on a Colombian mountain town that left three policeman and one soldier dead, authorities said Friday.

The toll from the attack by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the hemisphere's largest guerrilla army, was still uncertain, as more civilians are feared to be buried under tons of rubble in the northeastern town of Granada.

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"We have nine civilians dead and fifteen others have been sent to hospital but the death toll can go up since more bodies are being found," said Gen. Eduardo Herrera of the IV Army Brigade in Antioquia province.

The offensive was launched Wednesday, the same day President Andres Pastrana extended a decree that allows the FARC to control an area in southeastern Colombia the size of Switzerland which has been the venue for slow-moving peace talks.

An estimated 100 FARC rebels detonated a powerful car bomb in front of a police station and rained propane gas cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel in the attack, which lasted into Thursday.

By the time the 18-hour raid was over and army reinforcements took control of the town, entire blocks of houses had been leveled. Residents frantically sifted through the debris for missing loved ones. Others walked in shock amid three-story high rubble.

Antioquia police commander Gen. Duran Quintanilla said the rebels "hunted house by house for police officers."

"Their orders were to kill every police officer," Quintanilla told local radio Radionet. Eight FARC rebels were also killed in the attack.

Pastrana, who has made peace his priority, extended the land-for-peace deal for the sixth time but for a shorter period and with tighter restrictions, including army checkpoints to search for weapons and chemical precursors allegedly used by the rebels to produce and export cocaine.

By extending the FARC's control until January 31, Pastrana is seeking to put pressure on the entrenched rebels and force them into making peace concessions after a war that has taken the lives of 35,000 people since 1990.

The peace talks, which started two years ago, have stalled and war-weary Colombians have little if any faith in the negotiations, according to the latest polls.

Seeking to rein in growing levels of violence, Pastrana said late Thursday he will send a law to Congress that would grant blanket amnesty for the army fighting "terrorism" and rampant kidnapping.

But Pastrana's proposal - unveiled during a speech to navy officers - is likely to face constitutional challenges.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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U.S. State Dept. Fact Sheet: Plan Colombia
United States Institute of Peace Library, Plan Colombia Information
Drug Enforcement Administration
  • Traffickers from Colombia
Presidencia de la Republica de Colombia (Spanish)
Center for International Policy Latin America Demilitarization Program
  • Report on United Self-Defense Groups of Columbia
Transnational Institute Drugs & Democracy Project
U.S. State Department: 1999 Human Rights Report for Colombia
Human Rights Watch Report on Columbia

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