Troops kill FARC rebels holding US personnel

US-TRAINED Colombian troops closed in on Marxist FARC guerrillas holding three US Defence Department contractors, killing three of the rebels yesterday, the army said.

“There is very heavy fighting with the FARC. According to intelligence reports, we know that it is the same guerrilla column that kidnapped the three Americans,” said a Colombian army officer.

Troops from a US-trained anti-drug battalion killed the three rebels and retrieved their bodies. The troops are part of a 4,000-strong force hunting for the Americans who were seized when their light aircraft crashed in southern Colombia on February 13.