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At least 21 dead in clashes between Colombia rebels and militias |
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July 22, 2000
BOGOTA (AP) - Clashes between leftist rebels and rival militias left at least 21 people dead on Thursday, most of them rightist paramilitary fighters, local officials and clergy reported. Rev. Alejandro Munera, the Roman Catholic priest in Santa Rita, a village in northwest Antioquia State, reported that the bodies of 19 militia members and two civilians had been found. Jaime Diaz, the mayor of the nearby town of Ituango, told Radionet radio that the number of dead could be much higher. In a communique, Colombia's largest rebel group said its fighters had killed at least 32 militia members as well as destroying a cocaine processing laboratory run by the rightists. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, reported only one of its fighters killed and six injured. The clashes were reported in mountains outside the village located 200 miles (330 kilometers) from the capital, Bogota. The area is a stronghold of the landowner-backed paramilitary groups. Colombia's rebels and paramilitary armies fight viciously for control of territory where peasants and drug traffickers grow coca, the plant used to make cocaine. Both groups make huge profits by taxing the crop. |