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FARC rebels kill 10 Colombian soldiers; violating ceasefire

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will travel to Cauca, where the attack occurred.

By Andrew V. Pestano

BOGOTA, April 15 (UPI) -- Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, killed 10 Colombian soldiers in an attack, violating a ceasefire agreement established in December.

The left-wing guerrilla rebels used explosives, grenades and firearms. About 17 Colombian soldiers were injured, four seriously, according to the Colombian army. FARC officials and the Colombian government have been conducting peace talks in Havana, Cuba.

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The attack happened in the Colombian province of Cauca at an army garrison. A rogue unit of the FARC could have carried out the attack.

"If it was a rogue unit, the message was meant as much for the guerrilla negotiators in Havana as it was for the government," Adam Isacson, a Colombia specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America. Isacson told Bloomberg. "If it was ordered by the leadership, the FARC is either declaring an end to its ceasefire or trying to push the government to make it bilateral."

FARC rebels in Cauca have violated previous ceasefire agreements.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is traveling to Cauca on Wednesday.

"I lament the deaths of soldiers in Cauca. This is precisely the war we want to end," Santos tweeted.

More than 220,000 people have died in the Colombian conflict since the FARC's founding in 1964.

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