Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2005 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Author: Kim Housego, The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) FIGHTING KILLS 25 COLOMBIAN TROOPS BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Leftist rebels killed at least 25 soldiers in separate clashes Saturday in Colombia, the highest number of deaths in a single day for the military since President Alvaro Uribe came to power three years ago on pledges of crushing the guerrillas. Another 18 soldiers were reported missing. Fighting broke out in southwestern Putumayo state when as many as 300 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, ambushed an army convoy during an attack targeting several nearby oil wells, said Gen. Carlos Lemus, inspector general of the army. He said at least 19 soldiers were killed and 18 were missing during the battles near Puerto Asis, 330 miles southwest of Bogota. Putumayo is rich in oil and one of Colombia's main cocaine-producing centers. "We were engaged in very heavy fighting at dawn and called in air support," Lemus said at a news conference. "The attack was directed against petroleum installations." Helicopter gunships strafed rebel positions in Putumayo while warplanes swooped down to drop bombs, he said. The rebels also had suffered casualties he said, but he was unable to provide details. Also Saturday, government troops launched an offensive to dislodge leftist rebels blocking a road in northeast Colombia, leaving at least six soldiers dead, said local army commander Gen. Edgar Ceballos. "We initiated combat against FARC units ... with the aim of neutralizing a terrorist act to cut off the road between Ocana and Sardinata," about 250 miles northeast of Bogota, near the border with Venezuela, Ceballos said. The army had gained the upper hand there, but it was unclear whether the rebels had fled and the road had reopened, Ceballos said. Since the start of the year, the FARC has launched some of its boldest attacks on the military, killing more than 130 soldiers and shattering notions that the rebels have been brought to their knees. On May 19, the rebels ambushed a police convoy along the border with Ecuador, killing at least 13 counterinsurgency officers. In April, 17 soldiers were killed when their convoy was attacked in the oil-rich northeastern state of Arauca. The ferocity of the FARC attacks has led many observers to question Uribe's claims that the rebels have gotten weaker since he ordered a costly, U.S.-backed military buildup upon taking office in August 2002. Army officials maintain the FARC has 12,000 fighters, down from 18,000 a year ago, due to deaths, captures and desertions brought on by the government offensive. But concern has mounted that the rebels could gain a foothold in areas currently controlled by outlawed right-wing paramilitary militias, which are due to disband by the end of the year under a peace process with the government. Critics say Uribe's disarmament plan will let warlords accused of atrocities and drug trafficking escape meaningful punishment while leaving the core of their criminal organizations untouched. Colombia's drug-fueled conflict pits the FARC and the smaller National Liberation Army against outlawed right-wing paramilitary factions and government forces, killing more than 3,000 people every year. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom