Colombia bomb kills nine policemen

A car bomb killed seven Colombian policemen today when it was detonated as they drove by in three patrol cars.

“It was an ambush,” National Police spokesman Sergeant Alberto Cantillo said, adding that it was the bloodiest attack against police this year.

Dozens of officers were rushing on a mountain road to the village of Andinapolis, 160 miles south-west of the capital Bogota, to provide reinforcements against a guerrilla attack in progress when the roadside bomb went off, apparently with a remote control device, Cantillo said.

He said he suspected guerrillas from Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, were behind the car bombing and the attack near Andinapolis.

No injuries were reported in the rebel attack to which the officers were responding. Six officers went missing during the incident, but later reappeared unhurt, the sergeant said.

Though Colombia’s armed forces have had considerable success against FARC rebels recently and have retaken scores of towns previously under guerrilla control, there have been some setbacks.

Two weeks ago, 13 Colombian soldiers guarding a bridge in southern Colombia were killed when they were attacked by 200 FARC rebels .

The FARC and a smaller rebel group have been trying to topple Colombian governments for 40 years. About 3,500 people die in the fighting each year.