Troops kill 33 Colombian rebels in oil territory

Colombian troops killed 33 rebels in an oil-producing region close to the border with Venezuela, the government said, in one of the harshest blows against the drug-funded group in more than a year.

Ground troops supported by air strikes attacked fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who were resting in the plains region of the northern Arauca province.

The operation forms part of a new military strategy to battle the Marxist guerrillas by destroying their key armed and financial units, marking a shift from the previous focus of tracking down and killing their leaders.

Source: Reuters