Colombia rebels kill 7 officers; rebel deaths reported (Roundup)

Jun 23, 2009, 15:49 GMT

Bogota - At least seven police officers were killed in south-western Colombia when leftist guerillas attacked their vehicle, authorities said Monday.

According to unconfirmed news reports, 25 FARC rebels - including El Enano - were killed in the fighting, which lasted two hours and in which grenades were used. Locals told reporters that the rebels had taken away the bodies of 25 of their dead comrades on mules.

   The officers were on their way back to the town of Timba from a patrol in the Valle del Cauca province when their convoy was attacked by guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), police General Gustavo Adolfo Ricaurte said.

Seven officers travelling in the last Jeep in the column were killed. Four military officers were injured, two of them seriously.

   The police officers had reportedly engaged late Sunday in an attack on a rebel camp in the province, as police closed in on a local commander known as El Enano (the midget).

Police and the military have reinforced their presence in the area, and the clashes were ongoing.

   The Marxist FARC, who have been fighting the state for more than 45 years, have been pushed back by determined action under conservative President Alvaro Uribe, but have so far rejected negotiations and refused to renounce violence.