At least 80 dead in Colombian rebel-paramilitary fighting
CSN-MADISON, MAY 20, 2002
At least 80 people were killed in fighting between left-wing rebels and rightist paramilitary fighters in a rural area in the north-eastern department of Antioquia, a local official said.
The victims were killed in fighting between rebels with the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and right-wing paramilitaries from the
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) said Dario Quinones, the government
secretary of Campamento, a municipality located some 512 kilometers
(318 miles) northwest of Bogota.
Quinones told reporters that 28 bodies were recovered, 12 of which
belonged
to FARC fighters. But a humanitarian group that went into the area found
some 50 more bodies, he said.
"The group verified the count of 50 bodies in just one place," he said. "So the tally of around 80 dead is low and the real figure will be much higher."
Antioquia is one of several regions wracked by armed clashes between
the
FARC, Colombia's largest and oldest rebel group, and AUC forces.
During a major battle on May 3 between these two rival forces -- which
together boast of more than 20,000 combatants -- 119 people, mostly
women and children were bombed to death as they huddled inside a church
in Bojaya,
some 70 kilometers (44 miles) from Campamento.
Colombian clashes leave 78 dead
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Fierce combat between far-right paramilitary
outlaws, leftist rebels and the army over the past two days has claimed
at least 78 lives in northwestern Colombia, with almost all of the dead
believed to be fighters from illegal armed groups, authorities said
on Thursday.
The toll from the clashes which took place mostly on Tuesday was one
of the
highest in recent months in Colombia's decades-old guerrilla war. The
body
count, which stood at 28 on Wednesday, rose to 78 after more bodies
were
discovered, the army said.
The Marxist-inspired Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC,
and
paramilitaries fought near the village of Campamento, in Antioquia province,
about 200 miles (300 km) northwest of Bogota.
The army said it subsequently entered the area on Wednesday, killing
12 FARC
rebels. One soldier was killed, it said.
The 17,000-member FARC, Latin America's largest and oldest rebel force,
are
waging an armed campaign to take this mountainous zone from ultra-right
gunmen, who human rights groups say have deep ties to some sectors of
the
armed forces.
Colombians will head to the polls on May 26 to elect the next president
--
with the intensification of the country's 38-year-old war apparently
driving
public sentiment.
The largely rural conflict, increasingly fueled by the drug trade,
claims
the lives of about 3,500 people every year.
Opinion polls favor tough-talking Alvaro Uribe, a former governor
of
Antioquia, who has pledged to crack down on rebels and restore law and
order.
President Andres Pastrana, whose peace efforts with the FARC ended
in
failure in February, is constitutionally bared from seeking another
four-year term.
Death toll in bloody fighting in northern Colombia nears 80
By JUAN PABLO TORO, Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia - Fifty bodies were found scattered about a battlefield
in
northwest Colombia, raising the death toll to nearly 80 in fighting
there among leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and the army,
an official said Thursday.
The dead were mostly guerrillas and paramilitaries battling for strategic
territory in northern Antioquia state, a prime corridor for moving troops,
arms and the illegal drugs that are financing the country's 38-year
war.
"There are 78 people confirmed dead, apparently all combatants,"
Dairo
Quinones, town manager for Campamento in Antioquia, said by telephone
Thursday.
Quinones said 28 bodies were already stacked in the town morgue. Town
officials who reached the site late Wednesday spotted more than 50 bodies
of rebels and paramilitaries still lying about the fields, he said.
The army has reported one soldier killed in the clashes, which broke out Tuesday and tailed off Wednesday.
Since the collapse of peace talks in February, guerrillas have been
trying
to recapture territory lost to their rivals in the area. The battle
line stretches toward the border with Panama, and includes the village
of Bojaya, where a stray guerrilla mortar struck a church May 2 amid
fighting with
paramilitaries, killing 117 civilians.
Army officials on Wednesday reported at least 25 dead around Campamento,
located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Bogota.
Troops and government warplanes were called into the area after fighting broke out between the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the paramilitary group known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.
Air force fighters reportedly strafed the area, adding to the deaths.
Human rights monitors accuse Colombia's U.S.-backed security forces
of
collaborating with the paramilitaries, who have massacred thousands
of suspected leftist collaborators. President Andres Pastrana's government,
seeking wider U.S. military aid, claims it is battling both outlaw groups
with the same intensity.
At least 3,500 people die annually in Latin America's longest-running guerrilla conflict. The Marxist-inspired rebels say they are waging their war to seize power and rid Colombia of its chronic poverty and corruption. The landowner-backed paramilitaries arose to combat the guerrillas.