Americas News
Colombia's top rebel leader killed in military operation
Nov 5, 2011, 5:25 GMT
Bogota - Colombia's top rebel commander was killed in military operations in the southern region, sources in the Defence Ministry confirmed.
Guillermo Leon Saenz, head of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), was reportedly killed during government airstrikes on guerrilla positions in Cauca province.
Local media said the body of Saenz, aka 'Alfonso Cano,' was found alongside his partner whose nom de guerre was 'Patricia.'
El Tiempo newspaper's online edition quoted military sources saying the rebel leader was killed in an airstrike near the village of Chirriadero, in Miranda municipality.
Radio Caracol said the body was being taken to the provincial capital Popayan. Government and military officials were expected to make a public announcement Saturday.
The 62-year-old Saenz was the latest leader of Colombia's largest and oldest guerrilla front to die or be killed in the last three years.
He rose to the top of the FARC after founder Manuel Marulanda died in 2008. Raul Reyes, the second in command, was killed that same year during a cross-border raid on his camp in Ecuador. Jorge 'Mono Jojoy Briceno, the FARC's military chief, was killed by troops in 2010.
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