Marxist FARC guerrillas killed 30 soldiers in clashes in Colombia yesterday despite the government releasing three more rebels as part of a landmark prisoner swap to revive peace talks, the army said.
The fighting - the highest death toll sustained by the army in the last eight months - also killed 26 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Latin America's oldest and most powerful insurgency group.
As part of a prisoner swap that has freed 55 soldiers and police and that the government and rebels say shows peace is possible, three ill FARC rebels left a maximum security prison and were flown aboard a Red Cross helicopter to the rebel-controlled enclave in the south.
With the release from the Valledupar jail in northern Colombia, the government has now freed from state prisons 14 sick FARC rebels under a June 2nd "humanitarian accord" meant to revive flagging peace talks.
In exchange, the FARC has released 55 ailing soldiers and police officers from jungle prison camps and has pledged to release 300 more on June 28th.
Despite the swap, a FARC column launched an attack against a military base in the major cocaine producing Putumayo Province. Backed by helicopters and war planes, the army responded with bombs and machinegun fire. A Russian-made Mi-17 combat helicopter came under rebel fire and was forced to land.
The United States, which has boycotted the talks, is pouring in $1 billion in mostly military aid to the Colombian government.