BOGOTA, March 22 (UPI) -- Thirty-nine FARC guerrillas in Colombia died and 12 were captured in clashes with security forces Tuesday and Wednesday, Colombian military officials said.
The clashes occurred in the northern Colombia Arauca Department, Colombia Reports said.
The military said in a statement 33 of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas were killed in the bombing of a guerrilla camp early Wednesday and six others were killed in operations in the area in the past two days.
Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said the toll was the heaviest blow to FARC in the past five years.
Gen. Ernesto Maldonado, commander of the Colombian Army's 8th Division, said rebels in the camp were not believed to have been involved in an ambush Saturday in which 11 Colombian soldiers were killed but were members of FARC's 10th Front, which is believed to have been responsible for the attack.
