COLOMBIA: Rescuers have evacuated more than a dozen wounded people from an isolated corner of Colombia after battles between rebels and rival paramilitaries killed 68 civilians, among them 38 children, authorities said.
Mr Juan Gonzalo Lopez, health secretary for the government of Antioquia state, who is heading rescue efforts, yesterday said most of the 68 civilians were killed when homemade mortars slammed into a church in Bojaya - 235 miles northwest of the capital, Bogota. The village borders Antioquia state.
Authorities blamed the attack on the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It was not immediately clear if the rebels were aiming at the church. Rebels use cooking gas canisters packed with explosives as mortar rounds, which are not accurate.
The battles began on Wednesday in Choco state when combatants squared off for control of lucrative drug-producing territory, Gen Leonel Gomez, commander of the army's 1st Division, told reporters. Dozens of people caught in the crossfire remained stranded in the region in northwest Colombia. Authorities said some of them were missing limbs, and rescuers were not expected to reach them until today at the earliest.
The bodies were brought to the nearby village of Vigia del Fuerte in Antioquia, said Gen Lopez. One of the victims was a one-year-old baby.
Witnesses told rescue workers that about 30 bodies were still scattered throughout the area, said Gen Lopez, who was in charge of the evacuation team. - (AP)