A number of simultaneous mortar and bomb attacks on several military posts in the sou-west Colombian department of injure eight soldiers on Wednesday.
The attacks, allegedly carried out by guerrilla group FARC, took place in several areas around the town of Toribio, which has often been a target for attacks by the leftist rebels.
The Colombian air force said in a press release that it had “evacuated eight soldiers of the national army who were injured and transported them to the city of Cali where they will be treated.”
The air force said the attack were carried out by the FARC’s Jacobo Arenas mobile column with the guerrillas’ 6th Front, using home-made mortars and bombs.
Following the attack, authorities were forced to clear the village of unexploded explosives and started an offensive south-west of the town where, according to newspaper El Espectador, heavy fighting was registered near the village of Caldono.
The attack on Toribio is the first officially registered FARC attack since the death of “Mono Jojoy,” the rebels’ military chief, on September 22.