Marxist rebels killed 17 Colombian soldiers in a battle in the jungles of northern Colombia on Wednesday in the deadliest attack on the armed forces in years, the army said. Eight soldiers were also missing. The killings in Uraba province, the third time the rebels have inflicted major casualties on the army this month, represent a bloody rebuttal of army claims guerrillas have been pushed into retreat and a blow to President Alvaro Uribe's popular security policies.
An army patrol intercepted guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC, in the jungle zone of Uraba near the border with Panama, and 17 soldiers were killed in the battle, General Carlos Alberto Ospina, commander of Colombia's armed forces, told reporters.
Eleven FARC members were killed in the battle, two soldiers were wounded and eight were unaccounted for after the fight ended, he said. There were 41 soldiers in the patrol.
"The operation completed its mission, which was to stop the movement of the terrorists," Ospina said. "Unfortunately, we paid a very high price."
It was the highest death toll for the military in a single incident since Uribe took office in August 2002. The army had earlier said 20 soldiers were killed.
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