Victims of rebel gangs are evacuated

Rescuers have evacuated more than a dozen wounded people from an isolated corner of Colombia after battles between rebels and rival paramilitaries killed 68 civilians, among them 38 children, authorities said.

Juan Gonzalo Lopez - health secretary for the government of Antioquia state, who is heading rescue efforts, yesterday said most of the 68 civilians were killed when homemade mortars slammed into a church in Bojaya - 235 miles northwest of the capital, Bogota. The village borders Antioquia state.