Eight Colombian soldiers killed in clash with rebels

August 18th, 2009 Videos of rebel-held hostages released in ColombiaBOGOTA — Videos of nine hostages held by Colombian rebels were turned over to their families Monday as proof they remain alive. Videos of six Colombian police officers and three soldiers were obtained by Sen.

August 4th, 2009 BOGOTA - At least 17 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed when the security forces bombed one of their hideouts in the country's central Meta province, officials said. There were 200 FARC guerrillas at the camp when the attack took place, a defence ministry spokesman said Monday, without elaborating on the fate of the other rebels.

August 2nd, 2009 15 Colombian soldiers convicted of homicideBOGOTA — A court has sentenced 15 Colombian soldiers to as much as 30 years in prison for the slaying of two brothers falsely identified as guerrillas, the Attorney General's Office announced Sunday. The sentences were handed down for the murder of brothers Arley Vallejo Cardona and Yon Garcia Cardona in May 2006 in Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, the department said in a statement.

July 28th, 2009 5 killed in attack on Colombia coca eradicatorsBOGOTA — Colombian authorities say three soldiers and two civilians have been killed in a rifle and grenade attack on a boat carrying coca eradication workers. They say six people also have wounds and six more are missing.

July 26th, 2009 BOGOTA - At least 45 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed Saturday in an aerial bombardment in Meta province, the Caracol radio station reported. The attack came as Colombian forces were hunting down Jorge Briceno, one of the leaders of the leftist rebel organisation.

July 25th, 2009 Colombian: 16 rebels, 1 soldier killed in fightingBOGOTA — The Colombian military says at least 16 suspected guerrillas and one soldier have been killed in clashes. Defense Minister Gen.

July 18th, 2009 BOGOTA - Thirteen leftist rebels were killed in fighting with the security forces in central Colombia, a media report said. The fighting between Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest rebel group, and the security forces took place in the central Meta province Friday.

July 9th, 2009 Uribe to Colombian rebels: free all hostagesBOGOTA — Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says he will allow an opposition senator to accompany the release of hostages held by FARC rebels. But his office set a stiff condition: the leftist insurgents must release all 24 police and soldiers they are known to hold.

May 31st, 2009 BOGOTA - Fierce battles between the Colombian military and Marxist guerillas left 14 people dead in the latest fighting. There were few details about the fighting in La Macarena National Park in the southern Colombian jungle, where five soldiers and five rebels were slain, the military said.

May 4th, 2009 CARACAS - A Venezuelan military helicopter crashed near the country's border with Colombia killing 18 soldiers, President Hugo Chavez said Sunday. One general, 16 soldiers and one civilian died in the crash, Chavez said on Alo Presidente (Hello President), his weekly broadcast to the nation.

May 1st, 2009 Colombia soldiers charged in civilians' killingsBOGOTA — Colombian authorities have arrested a retired lieutenant colonel and seven other soldiers in the killings of two civilians who they allegedly presented as guerrillas slain in combat to inflate rebel body counts. Prosecutors say five active soldiers and three retired officers were detained, including former Lt.

May 1st, 2009 Chavez says Colombia rebels unwelcome in VenezuelaCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that his government will not tolerate incursions by Colombian rebels into Venezuelan territory. Chavez said he was responding to concerns relayed this week by Colombia's government over the killing of eight Colombian soldiers by a rebel ambush in the Sierra de Perija, a mountain range on the 1,400-mile (2,300-kilometer) border separating the two countries.

April 30th, 2009 BOGOTA - Eight Colombian soldiers were killed and another wounded in clashes with Leftist guerrillas in a mountainous area near the border with Venezuela, military sources said Thursday. The gunbattle between an army unit and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fighters occurred Wednesday in the El Templado region in the restive Caribbean province of La Guajira.

March 21st, 2009 BOGOTA - A senior member of Colombia's second largest rebels group has been killed in a gun battle with police in western province of Tolima, Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel has said. Javier Galvis Florez, identified as the chief of the Bolsheviks Bloc of the National Liberation Army (ELN), died in the gun battle occurred Thursday night in the mountains near Libano, about 120 km west of Bogota, the minister said Friday.

January 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Fierce fighting at a paramilitary compound in Pakistan's troubled Mohmand tribal region Sunday left at least six soldiers and 45 militants dead, an official said. The clash began early morning when more than 500 rebels attacked army positions in Lakaro, a militant stronghold near the Afghan border, according to an officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.