Ecuador sues Colombia for crop spraying

QUITO, Ecuador, April 1 (UPI) -- Ecuador is calling for international help to force Colombia to stop spraying herbicides on coca fields along their border, foreign ministry officials said.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said she asked the International Court of Justice to force Colombia to end the practice along their shared border, saying it has adversely affected the health of Ecuadorians living there, El Comercio reported Tuesday.

Ties between the South American neighbors have been strained in recent weeks. On March 1, Colombian forces entered Ecuador without permission to kill rebel commander Raul Reyes and more than two dozen members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

That incident led Ecuador and Venezuela to temporarily sever diplomatic relations with Colombian and send troops to their borders.