Rebels-paramilitary clash leaves dozens dead in Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- The Colombian government Friday said at least 78 people died in fighting between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary forces this week in the northeast town of Campamento.

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The fighting occurred in an area traditionally controlled by members of the guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, but subject to recent incursions by paramilitary forces. Farmers from the countryside said the true death toll was near 200.

Most of the casualties occurred when a FARC rebel unit overran a camp of a rival right-wing paramilitary faction, officials said.

Local sources said rebels killed many of the approximately 200 paramilitary fighters in the camp in a surprise attack before dawn Tuesday.

Later, government troops entered the area -- ostensibly to protect civilians -- and more fighting broke out. In addition to guerrilla casualties, a soldier was killed in the fighting, an army spokesman said.

A government spokesman said no civilians were found among the dead.

In Colombia's civil war, the government, leftist rebels and rightist paramilitaries have fought one another for years. Thousands of people have died -- most of them civilians.