COLOMBIA:COLOMBIA HAS accused left-wing Farc guerrillas of firing makeshift mortar rounds at army units from inside Ecuador and says it will file a formal note of protest demanding better border security.
One Colombian soldier was injured in the attack on Friday near the border town of Teteye.
The mortar rounds were converted propane gas cylinders filled with explosives, a common weapon of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, according to a Colombian defence ministry spokesman.
A similar attack near Teteye in 2005 killed 25 soldiers, Colombia has claimed.
Colombia's army commander, Gen Mario Montoya, cited press reports quoting demobilised rebels who claimed that the Farc maintained 60 to 80 camps on the Ecuadorean side of the border.
Ecuador said it was waiting for the protest note to respond formally. But undersecretary of defence Miguel Carvajal said in a telephone interview on Saturday night that the claim was part of a "defamation campaign" to divert attention from Colombia's internal problems.
"It's an absurdity to say the Farc needs to use our territory, when every day at all hours the rebels are attacking Colombian armed forces within Colombia," he said.
"This is a smokescreen by Colombia to evade dealing with its internal problems."
Ecuadorean forces "are fully deployed in the border area in 25 military bases. Colombia has four," Mr Carvajal said. "There are no illegal armed groups operating inside Ecuador."
The alleged attack is the first major border incident since Colombian aircraft and ground troops crossed the boundary and killed the Farc's second-in-command, known by his alias Raúl Reyes.
Colombia later said it mounted the March 1st operation, which killed at least 22 others, because it did not trust Ecuador to expel or capture Reyes.
Colombia said files found in three laptops recovered at the Reyes camp showed the rebel commander had met Ecuadorean interior minister Gustavo Larrea. Mr Larrea acknowledged meeting Reyes, but said he did so for humanitarian reasons, to secure the release of Farc hostages.
Ecuador and Venezuela each sent thousands of troops to their borders with Colombia after the March raid. Diplomatic relations between the three countries were suspended.
The Organisation of American States denounced Colombia for violating Ecuador's sovereignty but upheld Colombia's right to defend its national security. Tensions remain high between Colombia and Ecuador. Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa regularly denounce each other.
- (LA Times-Washington Post service)