Libyan rebels have claimed that Colombian female rebel snipers are fighting for Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi, reported The Washington Times on Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, pro-Gaddafi prisoners and eyewitnesses in the partially-rebel held city of Misurata have been giving reports of the deadly aim of female rebel shooters, although no Colombians have been killed or captured in Libya and no foreign entity confirms the allegation.
Rebel sources said that the Colombian fighters are part of an international team of snipers operating from the Misurata roof tops. They added that they have captured Algerian mercenaries and believe Gaddafi is also receiving aid from Belarus, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and the Ukraine.
A doctor who only gave his first name “Khalid”, said, “They are shooting to kill,” referring to the head, chest and neck injuries his patients have received.
A U.S. official however told the Washington Times he doubts that Gaddafi is receiving significant foreign help.
Information on the computer of FARC commander “Raul Reyes,” who was killed in 2008, indicates Gaddafi’s ties to Colombia, apparently showing that a letter was sent to Gaddafi in 2000 requesting a 5 year $100 million loan to buy surface-to-air missiles although it is not known whether the money or the weapons materialized.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told German publication Der Spiegel earlier this month, it is “clear … that [FARC] still has connections to Gaddafi. Libya even offered them $300 million. But we don’t know if the FARC actually received the money.”
According to Jaime Daremblum, director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the Hudson Institute and former Costa Rican ambassador to the U.S., the FARC has highly trained female fighters capable of using modern firearms.