Rebels bomb church, kill 60

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05May02

BOGOTA: At least 60 people have been killed and about 100 injured in northwest Colombia after guerillas fired a mortar bomb at a church in which they were seeking refuge.

Leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been battling right-wing paramilitaries of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, around the town of Bojoya.

When fighting moved out of the jungle and into the town, Mayor Ariel Palacio ushered the townspeople into what he thought was the safest place – the church.

Witnesses then saw the guerillas drop a mortar bomb on the church.

Local government secretary Jorge Caicedo said the 60 killed were all civilians. He called the events in Bojaya a "national tragedy".

Mr Palacio confirmed the figures, adding that 13 of the 93 wounded were seriously injured.

It has sparked a call by Colombian president Andres Pastrana to the European Union to reconsider its decision not to include guerillas from the FARC and National Liberation Army (ELN) on its list of terrorist groups.

He said it "sends a signal of European tolerance for these most vile and cowardly acts against civilians".

Both groups figure on the US list of foreign terrorist organisations.

Choco province police chief Colonel Ricardo Vargas said 300 guerillas and 500 paramilitaries were involved in the clashes, which have raged since the beginning of the week.

Some 200,000 people have died in Colombia's 40-year civil war, in which leftist rebels such as FARC and ELN are fighting right-wing paramilitaries and the government.

The conflict has escalated since February 20, when the government broke off three years of peace talks with FARC, Latin America's biggest and best-armed insurgency. Negotiations with the second-largest rebel group, ELN, are still under way.

This report appears on news.com.au.