Bogota - At least 25 rebels and four soldiers died in the latest round of fighting across Colombia, the worst of it in an area where more than 20 civilians were massacred last week. Military spokesmen said troops from an elite counter-insurgency battalion killed 20 of the guerrillas in combat raging since Thursday afternoon in Mapiripan, in a remote area of Meta province in the country's eastern plains.
The combat zone is near the village of Puerto Alvira, where local officials said a right-wing death squad shot and hacked to death at least 21 people last Monday.