Colombian rebels kill family, 80-yr-old woman -govt
BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Left-wing Colombian rebels massacred a family of six in the northern province of Antioquia, including an 80-year-old woman, authorities said on Sunday.
The government sent soldiers and investigators to the village of Llanos del Encuentro after members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, opened fire on the family home, authorities told reporters.
The massacre could be related to the murder "some time ago of a warlock said to be linked to the guerrillas," Jorge Mejia, the secretary of government of Antioquia, told reporters. The FARC may have carried out the killings "to take revenge," he said.
This area of Antioquia was controlled by illegal right-wing paramilitary groups until their recent demobilization under a peace deal with President Alvaro Uribe.
Thousands are killed and tens of thousands are forced from their homes every year by Colombia's four-decade-old conflict, in which Marxist rebels battle with paramilitaries over lucrative cocaine-producing land.
Both the rebels and the paramilitaries are known to kill peasants accused of sympathizing with the other side.
The Colombian army has cooperated with the paramilitaries to combat their common rebel foe, but the government says soldiers who join forces with the militias are criminals.
The government sent soldiers and investigators to the village of Llanos del Encuentro after members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, opened fire on the family home, authorities told reporters.
The massacre could be related to the murder "some time ago of a warlock said to be linked to the guerrillas," Jorge Mejia, the secretary of government of Antioquia, told reporters. The FARC may have carried out the killings "to take revenge," he said.
This area of Antioquia was controlled by illegal right-wing paramilitary groups until their recent demobilization under a peace deal with President Alvaro Uribe.
Thousands are killed and tens of thousands are forced from their homes every year by Colombia's four-decade-old conflict, in which Marxist rebels battle with paramilitaries over lucrative cocaine-producing land.
Both the rebels and the paramilitaries are known to kill peasants accused of sympathizing with the other side.
The Colombian army has cooperated with the paramilitaries to combat their common rebel foe, but the government says soldiers who join forces with the militias are criminals.
posted by Marko at 2/13/2006 07:34:00 AM
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