Rebels kill 17 peasants in Colombia

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - Left-wing rebels killed at least 17 peasants in northeast Colombia on New Year's Eve in reprisal for cooperating with far-right paramilitaries, police and local authorities said on Saturday.

The massacre, in which police said four children and six women died, took place on Friday night in the town of Tame, in the province of Arauca near the Venezuelan border. The oil-rich region is contested by Marxist rebels and their paramilitary foes.

The victims were gathered for a New Year's Eve celebration when they were attacked, said Tame Mayor Alfredo Guzman.

Police say the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, carried out the crime. Authorities say the group killed nine peasant coca growers in August and 34 in June in the neighboring province of Norte de Santander.

The Farc and paramilitaries often dispute control of coca crops, which are the raw material for cocaine. They use drug money to buy weapons to fund a 40-year-old war that claims thousands of lives a year.

- REUTERS