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Dozens killed in Colombia attack
BBC News ^ | Friday, 3 May, 2002, 20:23 GMT 21:23 UK | BBC News

Posted on 05/03/2002 2:23:11 PM PDT by colette_g

Dozens killed in Colombia attack

FARC rebels training in Colombia

The attack is said to be one of the deadliest by FARC

The authorities in Colombia say at least 60 civilians have been killed and about 100 others injured in a bomb attack by suspected rebels in a remote western province.

According to witnesses, the victims were killed when guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) set off a mortar bomb in a crowded church in the town of Bojaya, in the Choco province.

Residents are thought to have sought refuge inside the church to escape fierce fighting between the left-wing rebels and right-wing paramilitaries.

The scene was one of utter devastation. Local government spokesman, Jorge Caicedo, described the killings as a national tragedy and called for urgent humanitarian help.

Correspondents say it is one of the deadliest attacks by the FARC on civilians in recent years.

Fight for lucrative trade

For several days the FARC guerrillas have been fighting the paramilitaries of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) in the dense jungle around the town of Bojaya.

Colombian soldiers

Despite warnings the security forces were nowhere to be seen

Then the fighting moved in the town itself, and the mayor gathered the people into what he thought were the safest places - the church and adjoining square.

The Colombian human rights ombudsman, Eduardo Cifuentes, said that despite advance warnings that the local community was vulnerable to attack, no troop reinforcements had been sent to the area.

The target for the illegal armies is the River Atrato that runs through Choco and on which the town of Bojaya sits.

The BBC correspondent in Colombia says that whoever controls the river also controls the lucrative trade in drugs, arms and contraband that makes its way to and from Panama and the Caribbean coast.

At least 35,000 people have been killed over the last decade of violence in Colombia, and about two million people have fled the country.



TOPICS: Front Page News
KEYWORDS: attack; bomb; churchbombing; colombia; farc; latinamericalist
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To: Norn Iron
Thanks for the link & info...
21 posted on 05/04/2002 11:23:15 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: backhoe
EU Terrorist List

Brussels, 3 May 2002

8549/02 (Presse 121)

DECISION ADOPTED BY WRITTEN PROCEDURE

FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM - updated list

It contains ETA and the United Self-Defense Forces / Group of Colombia (AUC) (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) but not the IRA or FARC!!

22 posted on 05/04/2002 6:01:36 PM PDT by Norn Iron
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To: backhoe
A bit o' Eire in the West Bank
By Jed Babbin

 Are we at war with terrorism, or just with a few particular terrorists? If we are at war with terrorism, how can we differentiate between al Ada and its cousin, the Philippine abu-Say? We can't, of course, except by the size of the threat they pose. The questions don't end there, and the answers are hitting closer to home. How can we distinguish between the Colombian ARC narco-terrorists and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) that is training them? Evidence accumulating around the world indicates that we can't.

More at the Washington Times

23 posted on 05/04/2002 6:25:04 PM PDT by Norn Iron
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To: backhoe
IRA Porkies


24 posted on 05/05/2002 9:30:39 AM PDT by Norn Iron
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To: Norn Iron
Appreciate the links... I hope enough people will see these, and learn, well, what they need to learn about terrorist organizations.
25 posted on 05/05/2002 11:25:27 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: backhoe

May 6, 2002

 Colombia rebels met with dozen IRA chiefs
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

  Marxist rebels in Colombia, seeking to escalate terrorist attacks against that country's government, have met with more than a dozen Irish Republican Army leaders in the past three years, including a trusted confidant of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, authorities said.

More at Washington Times

26 posted on 05/06/2002 4:41:25 AM PDT by Norn Iron
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