Twenty-two Colombian guerrillas were killed Sunday in an airstrike, the country’s defense minister said.
The Colombian air force bombing was part of an operation against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in southern Colombia, Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said. The operation was ongoing and more bodies could be found, he said.
Rebels in the area had killed eight police officers in an attack earlier this month.
Sunday’s bombing campaign was one of the strongest blows against the FARC in recent memory.
Left-wing guerrillas have increased their attacks against police installations in cocaine-producing areas of southern Colombia, killing eight officers on Friday and bringing this month’s death toll to 55.
President Juan Manuel Santos took office last month, promising to keep up pressure on the drug-running insurgents.
But his government has gotten off to a difficult start in the provinces of Narino and Putumayo, where the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has gone on the offensive.
The provinces bordering Ecuador are key to the cocaine smuggling operations that fund Colombia’s decades-old
insurgency.
USA President Barack Obama has announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq is over. The president said Tuesday America’s new mission is to advise and assist Iraq’s security forces.
Seven-and-a-half years after U.S. forces invaded Iraq, President Obama thanked the troops for their service and announced that their combat mission has concluded. “Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” he said.
In only the second Oval Office address of his presidency since taking office, Mr. Obama did not declare victory, but said the move to a new mission is underway. “Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page,” the president said.
Presidents of both Countries, Juan Manuel Santos and Hugo Chavez, have decided to resume diplomatic relations interrupted by Caracas after accusations from Bogota’ to give ospitality to elements of colombian guerrilla.
In a meeting of Santa Marta, in Colombia, Chavez and Santos have also decided to work together to contrast the presence of armed groups at border.
Venezuela has beefed up its troop presence along the border with Colombia amid heightened tension between the two South American nations.
Caracas has sent about one thousand troops to the border, citing the threat of an armed conflict with Bogota.
“We have a reinforcement of 980 to 1,000 troops for the protection of the border, but there are no unusual operations; we are staying on alert,” Reuters quoted Franklin Marquez, a regional commander for the Venezuelan National Guard, as saying on Monday.
