Bogota - At least 31 people, including policemen, a mayor, a mother and her three children, died when Marxist rebels stormed two neighbouring Colombian jungle towns over the weekend, authorities said yesterday.
Hundreds of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas rained down home-made missiles and machinegun fire on Bellavista, in north-west Choco province, and Vigia del Fuerte, in neighbouring Antioquia province, in strikes that began Saturday and lasted through Sunday.
The fighting was some of the heaviest this year and came despite talks between the FARC and the government to end the country's long-running war that has claimed more than 35,000 lives in the last 10 years.