Rebels kill 12 in ambush on Colombian security forces

Source: Washington Post

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Eleven Colombian soldiers and a police officer were killed in a brazen ambush Monday by the country's second-largest leftist guerrilla force, known as the ELN, dealing a major blow to hopes for government peace negotiations with the group.

The attack was carried out a day after local and municipal elections were held across Colombia. The troops were escorting poll workers and 130 ballots to be counted from remote indigenous villages in the mountains of Bocaya state.

Three soldiers were wounded in the attack, and two soldiers, a police officer, two election officials and their guide are missing, according to Colombia's Defense Ministry, meaning they have probably been kidnapped.

“This attack shows that ELN does not understand that this is a time for peace, not a time for war,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, in a statement he read Monday evening “with a broken heart.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rebels-kill-12-in-ambush-on-colombia-security-forces/2015/10/26/6df14a02-7c32-11e5-bfb6-65300a5ff562_story.html