Colombian President Santos criticizes 'cowardly' killings

BOGOTA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos criticized leftist rebels' "cowardly" killings of four government security force members they had held prisoner for years.

"The FARC could not have been more cowardly," Santos said Wednesday, referring to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Colombia Today reported.

The four security force members, who had been held hostage more than a dozen years, were killed Saturday in the jungles of Caqueta state in southern Colombia.

Santos has said three of the men were shot in the head and the fourth was shot twice in the back.

FARC said in a statement the rebels "profoundly regret the tragic outcome of the demented rescue attempt ordered by the Colombian government on Nov. 26."

The rebel group said the rescue mission was meant to "prevent the imminent unilateral release" of the hostages.

Santos reacted angrily to the statement.

"Don't think we are idiots," he said. "And now they make a statement where 'they regret' what happened, after having pulled the trigger that ended their lives. That statement deserves a place of honor on the wall of infamy and cruelty."