The Colombian army on Monday reported the death of five members of left-wing rebel group FARC in combat in the southern department of Caqueta.
The combat reportedly took place in a rural area in the Puerto Rico municipality in Caqueta as troops from the 6th Division clashed with a company from the rebel column ‘Teofilo Forero’, led by Ivan Dario Velasquez, alias “El Paisa”.
The capture of four guerrillas was also announced after a simultaneous confrontation with the same rebel group in another area of the same municipality.
According to the authorities the bodies of the deceased FARC, the captured guerrillas and the seized military equipment will all be transported to the municipality of San Vicente del Caguan.
Puerto Rico is a strategic location in Colombia’s internal conflict, as the only road connecting San Vicente del Caguan with Florencia, a municipality and capital of Caqueta department, and the rest of the country. In addition, it is the transport route for this region’s oil.