Colombia Fighting Leaves 20 Rebels, 13 Police Dead

Colombian army troops killed at least 20 leftist rebels in a heated battle on Saturday after the guerrillas executed 13 policemen during an attack on a small town southwest of Bogota overnight, authorities said.

A column of about 200 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, the nation's most powerful rebel group, fired propane gas tanks packed with explosives at the police station of Roncesvalles in Tolima province late Friday, army spokesman Col. Paulino Coronado told Reuters.

Thirteen of the 17 police stationed in Roncesvalles were shot at point-blank range, Coronado said. Another policeman was wounded.

The rebels destroyed the police station and 25 civilian homes, and at least one civilian was being treated for bullet wounds, he said.

Army troops reached the town early Saturday and clashed with the guerrillas. ``We know there are considerable casualties among the rebels and the troops have reported at least 20 bodies,'' Coronado said.

There were no army casualties reported.

Both the army and rebels frequently inflate enemy casualty figures.

Fighting continued Saturday afternoon and army troops were covered by fighter planes ``to block the rebel retreat,'' Coronado said.

The FARC attack on Roncesvalles came two days after simultaneous attacks on four towns left a mother and her three children dead overnight Wednesday.

All four towns were near a Switzerland-sized rebel safe haven that the army accuses the FARC of using as a springboard for military offensives. The 16,200-square-mile area was cleared of government troops 18 months ago to use for negotiations to end a conflict that has taken more than 35,000 lives since 1990.

The area around Roncesvalles is considered ``strategic'' since it is on an access corridor to the safe haven, Coronado said.

President Clinton signed an emergency spending measure on Thursday that includes $1.3 billion to help train and equip Colombia's military and police to better fight drug trafficking. U.S. and Colombian officials say the FARC reaps about $500 million a year from drug trafficking.



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