Colombian military kills about 60 alleged rebels

BOGOTA - An airstrike on a rebel camp by the Colombian Air Force may have killed up to 60 people, Admiral Edgar Cely, commander of Colombia’s military forces, said Monday, citing intelligence reports.

The bombing raid Sunday in Putumayo province was first believed to have killed of 22 alleged members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), according to initial official reports.

The location of the camp less than four km from the Ecuadoran border was provided by paid informants, the military said. Police General Oscar Naranjo said authorities expect to issue up to $555,000 in rewards.

Police and Air Force planes bombed a suspected FARC camp in a rural part of the municipality of San Miguel in the jungle province of Putumayo. The raid was carried out after authorities located the camp believed to belong to rebels who last week killed eight police officers in the region.

Cely said 22 bodies from the air raid were taken Sunday to Bogota for identification, while security forces continued to search for more remains, because authorities believe there were many more dead.

“We think that, according to intelligence sources in the area, there could be about 60 (dead) terrorists,” Cely said.

Two mid-ranking FARC leaders were believed to be among the dead, he said.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos thanked Ecuadoran authorities for their support, but gave no further details. It is believed that Ecuadoran authorities prevented the rebels from fleeing across the border into Ecuador.

In the last two weeks, FARC has slain at least 50 police officers and soldiers.

According to survivors of last week’s attack on the police, rebels detonated explosives as a patrol passed by, then shot the officers and burned the bodies. The United Nations office in Colombia was evaluating whether the attack on police violated International Humanitarian Law.

During the eight-year term of president Alvaro Uribe, Santos’ predecessor and fellow hardliner in the civil war, FARC was forced into retreat.

In a country where almost half the population lives in poverty, however, the Marxist rebels continue to have substantial power after waging an insurgency for more than 40 years. Colombia’s mountainous jungle regions have allowed the insurgents to survive and operate in remote areas.