COLOMBIA: 10 POLICEMEN AND 6 LEFTIST REBELS KILLED IN FIGHTING FOR CONTROL OF SMALL TOWN
Record ID:
376046
COLOMBIA: 10 POLICEMEN AND 6 LEFTIST REBELS KILLED IN FIGHTING FOR CONTROL OF SMALL TOWN
- Title: COLOMBIA: 10 POLICEMEN AND 6 LEFTIST REBELS KILLED IN FIGHTING FOR CONTROL OF SMALL TOWN
- Date: 29th December 1995
- Summary: ACHI AND CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA (DECEMBER 29, 1995) (REUTERS TELEVISION - ACCESS ALL) (ACHI) 1. AERIAL VIEW OF TOWN 0.10 2. SLV POLICE PATROLLING TOWN IN CAR 0.21 3. LV/SLV SOLDIERS PATROLLING AREA (2 SHOTS) 0.30 4. SLV SECURITY OUTSIDE MAGANGE AIRPORT NEAR TOWN OF ACHI (2 SHOTS) 0.39 (CARTAGENA) 5. LV HELICOPTER CARRYING WOUNDED POLICEMAN AT CARTAGENA AIRPORT 0.43 6. SV WOUNDED MAN BEING TRANSFERRED TO AMBULANCE (2 SHOTS) 1.04 7. LV HELICOPTER LEAVING 1.11 8. SLV/SV RELATIVES OF POLICEMEN CRYING AT AIRPORT (6 SHOTS) 1.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 13th January 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ACHI AND CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA
- City:
- Country: Colombia LATIN AMERICA
- Reuters ID: LVA1GUOSCKDMYSSLIFI7PF4JX1AO
- Story Text: Ten policemen and six leftist rebels were killed in overnight fighting for control of a small town in northern Colombia, police and military officials said on Friday (December 29).
They said the fighting, in which 11 police were wounded, erupted after more than 100 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels raided the town of Achi, about 265 miles (430 km) north of Bogota.
The rebels attacked under cover of darkness at around 0330 GMT and fled into the nearby jungle at dawn when army reinforcements backed by helicopter gunships were dispatched to the area, a National Police official told Reuters.
The town's police station was destroyed in the attack, along with a school and several government offices, army and police officials said.
It was the second FARC attack this year on Achi, which is located in northern Bolivar province on the banks of the Cauca River.
The National Police sent a plane to Cartagena to transport the dead and the wounded policemen to Bogota.
Fighting was also reported on Friday in a rural area outside the town of Corinto in southwest Colombia, about 30 miles (50 km) outside of Cali, Colombia's third largest city.
The Caracol radio network said at least one police officer was wounded in an attack by FARC commandos operating in the area.
The FARC, officially formed as a Marxist, pro-Soviet group in 1964, is the largest of four guerrilla groups operating across Colombia.
The National Planning Department said this week that 10,391 guerrillas were operating in Colombia and that 17,624 people had been killed between 1990 and 1994 as a result of the insurgency.
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