Alleged FARC rebels have killed at least three Colombian soldiers and injured another nine in combat in the southwest of the country.
According to the CM&, which was present when the fighting broke out, guerrillas attacked a village in the Cauca department, forcing the temporary evacuation of all 250 inhabitants.
The hours-long offensive that killed the soldiers was carried out with home-made mortars. One of the mortars exploded feet away from the local school, the newscast said.
According to the army, four guerrillas were also killed.
The injured soldiers were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Caloto.
The deadly attack took place exactly ten years after the Colombian government broke off peace talks with the FARC. Following the failed peace talks, the guerrillas were forced away from the country’s largest cities and economically important areas, but remained active in remote areas like Cauca where they carried out hundreds of attacks on armed forces, infrastructure and villages last year alone.