FARC Mortars Colombia From Ecuador
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia’s army on Saturday said FARC guerrillas opened fire on its troops with home-made mortars from across Ecuador’s border in the latest incident to test frayed relations between the Andean neighbors.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia last month during a regional crisis when Colombian troops killed a top FARC commander in an attack on a base hidden over the border inside Ecuadorean territory.
Army Commander Gen. Mario Montoya said rebels had launched gas cylinder mortars from the Ecuadorean side of the frontier to attack Colombian soldiers in southern Putumayo province, where armed groups often grow coca to make cocaine.
“These bandits from FARC have once again fired five cylinders filled with explosives from Ecuadorean territory against Colombian troops who were providing security to an oil company,” Montoya told reporters.
One soldier was wounded in the attack, he said.
Border incidents and a flurry of accusations between Bogota and Quito have kept tensions high between the two countries since March when Colombian troops attacked a FARC base over the border to kill rebel chief Raul Reyes.
Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe said the attack was legitimate because Bogota had warned Ecuadorean officials repeatedly about Reyes’s camp and received no help. But Ecuador and Venezuela reacted by sending troops to their frontiers with Colombia and cutting ties with Bogota.
Colombian authorities say computers found at Reyes camp in Ecuador contained files revealing deep FARC ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Correa, but both leaders dismiss those charges as part of a smear campaign against them by Uribe’s government.
The crisis has underscored political divisions in the Andes where Correa and Chavez promote a leftist agendas and oppose U.S. policies while Uribe is one of Washington’s staunchest allies in Latin America.
Colombia’s conflict has eased under Uribe, who has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid to help counter the insurgency. The FARC, labeled a cocaine-trafficking terrorist group by U.S. and E.U officials, has been pushed back into remoter regions.
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It is time to clean house south of the border… Columbia is our last ally in that region. Some hot pursuit is in order.
April 26th, 2008 at 2:17 pmSA has always been at war with something for as long as I can remember. I seem to recall that much of this got really heated up after Fidel and Che came into prominence. Drugs have made it worse.
Reconstituting the 4th Fleet was a good idea. We’re going to have to deal with this area AGAIN at some point. I’m pretty sure the US is engaged in Columbia…but just much more we can do without a large-scale committment, hard to say.
From what I gather one of the reasons that Columbia’s military has done better over the years is because of US trainers.
April 26th, 2008 at 3:48 pmIs that a S&W 5906? A mighty fine handgun for shure! The bitch has four fingers below the trigger guard. She dosen’t know shit about firearms. She’s there, “At the Commanders pleasure” I bet.
April 26th, 2008 at 5:39 pmTHE LEFTIES IN CONGRESS CAN NO LONGER GET AWAY WITH SUPPORTING THEIR LEFTIST FRIENDS ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD, MUCH LESS COLUMBIA.
THERE’S TOO MANY INFORMATION SOURCES…LIKE THE INTERNET.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:13 pmcheck out the military issue black rubber boots they’re wearing in the backround
April 27th, 2008 at 7:48 amI had a pair of those when I lived down there