7,000 troops assigned to hunt FARC leaders

The Colombian army will assign 7,000 special forces soldiers to track down FARC commanders “Mono Jojoy” and “Romaña,” who authorities believe are planning to sabotage Colombia’s presidential elections, reports El Colombiano.

Commander of the army’s 5th division, general Juan Pablo Rodriguez said that the special forces will focus prinicipally on the 13th, 17th and Teofilo Forero FARC fronts, which Mono Jojoy and Romaña command.

“The 5th division will maintain efforts in the south of Tolima, where 11 units of the Eastern Block of the FARC are based. We are already there undergoing offensive operations against these units with significant results,” Rodriguez said.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, during a visit to the southern Meta department, stressed that “we must have our guard up so that terrorism does not affect the electoral period,” and urged Colombians to report “any anomalies.”

Intense fighting between the FARC and the Colombia is focused in south-west Colombia, particularly in the Cauca department, where mass forced displacement and civilians deaths are being reported.

The FARC leaders are believed to be holed up in the mountains in this area.

In April Colombia’s armed forces assigned 4,000 troops to the sole task of finding and arresting the FARC’s supreme commander “Alfonso Cano,” whothey believe to be located in the mountains on the border of the Tolima and Cauca departments.

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