13 Colombian soldiers killed

2004-07-23 09:14

Bogota, Colombia - Dozens of leftist rebels attacked a heavily guarded bridge in southeast Colombia, killing 13 soldiers but failing to capture the bridge, the deputy army chief said.

Fierce clashes at the bridge linking the departments of Huila and Putumayo, one of Colombia's main cocaine-producing regions, forced the army to call in reinforcements and air support before pushing back the guerrillas, said Gen Eduardo Morales.

Morales blamed Thursday's attack on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, the country's main rebel group that has been battling to topple the government for 40 years.

"Our soldiers were able to repel the terrorist attack by the Farc and prevent the departments of Huila and Putumayo from being cut off from each other," Morales said.

He said it wasn't immediately clear how many rebels died in the fighting at the bridge located in the municipality of Santa Rosa, 430km southeast of the capital, Bogota.

The Farc, which funds its operations mainly through drug trafficking, controls most of the fields of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, in the Putumayo region.

In a separate communique on Thursday, the army said six Farc fighters were killed in sporadic clashes across the country in the past 24 hours.

- AP