AFP. 15 January 2002. FARC rebels launch raids hours after peace talks renewed.
BOGOTA -- Rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) launched a string of attacks late Monday and early Tuesday, the army and police reported, leaving at least four dead. At 8:30 pm (0130 GMT Tuesday) Monday -- three hours after rebels announced a return to peace talks -- FARC guerillas mounted on high-power motorcycles threw two sacks of dynamite at the police station in the town of Algeciras, said Gilberto Rocha, commander of the army's IX brigade, located in the area. Algeciras is a few kilometers north-west of the Switzerland-sized demilitarized zone the FARC has occupied since November 1998. Rocha said the army fought off the attackers and killed three of them. At the same time a blast rocked the prison in the town of Picalena, located 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Bogota. A prison guard was killed as he fought off the attackers. The blast ripped a hole in the prison wall and 39 FARC inmates escaped, said General Victor Manuel Paez, head of the national prison system. And at 8 pm (0100 GMT) some 50 FARC rebels raided on the town of Puerto Quetame, some 75 kilometers (47 miles) south-east of Bogota, according to military reports. Six police officers managed to hold the rebels off for at least two hours, when soldiers arrived in light tanks and helicopters, supported by low-flying aircraft. The soldiers fought the rebels for a further two hours. There were no reports of casualties. Several Puerto Quetame buildings, including the mayor's office and the police station, were damaged in the fighting. Early Tuesday, rebels stopped traffic on a major north-south highway leaving Bogota, torching a big-rig truck. Rebels also blasted two power pylons carrying key transmission lines in the southern Meta department. The regional head of the utility company, Manuel Villarraga, told Caracol news that power would be rationed to five hours a day throughout Meta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
