BOGOTA -- The Colombian army killed a leader of the country's largest leftist rebel group Wednesday and took nine rebels captive, the army announced.
The captured guerrillas included three boys aged 13 to 14 years. All nine were taken during a clash in a rural area near the northeastern town of San Jose de Apartado, according to a statement from the army.
The slain rebel leader was identified only as the head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's (FARC) fifth front, which has participated in ambushes on police and army in northwest Colombia, as well as attacks on villages.
The army said it also confiscated nine guns from the scene, five revolvers, a pistol, grenades, walkie-talkies and documents "important to military intelligence."
FARC is the oldest, largest and best-armed guerrilla group in Colombia, with more than 12,000 soldiers.
FARC is engaged in peace talks with the government that begin in earnest on October 24, although the rebels have refused to declare a ceasefire and said peace talks had to be "alongside war."