An alleged FARC attack in southwestern Colombia has left one policeman dead and another wounded, according to national media.
The victim was identified as auxiliary policeman Eudes de Jesus. The wounded patrolman, Vincent Vargas, was transported to a hospital in the nearby city of Pasto, reported Caracol Radio.
The attack was allegedly carried out by the 26th Front of the FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group, and targeted a police substation in the Taminango municipality of the southwestern state of Nariño. One of the rebel combattants also reportedly lost his life during the nearly two-hour battle.
Long a charged battleground between the state and the rebels, Nariño has seen a number of violent confrontations involving the FARC this year, the most prominent of which came in March, when two police officers were kidnapped in the state and subsequently murdered.
The FARC claimed responsibility for the act and the event created tensions between the government and the rebels, who are currently taking part in peace talks to end the 50-year conflict between the parties.
MORE: ‘Kidnapped’ Police officers found dead in southwestern Colombia
The FARC have been negotiating a potential peace settlement with the Colombian government since November 2012. No ceasefire was put in place prior to the start of talks, however.
Nariño, and the southwest of the country in general, maintains a strong presence of armed groups, between the FARC and ELN rebels, and drug trafficking organizations such as “LosRastrojos.”
Sources
Un policía muerto y otro herido deja ataque de las Farc en Nariño (El Espectador)
Un policía muerto deja ataque a estación de Policía en Remolino, Nariño (Caracol Radio)