US Helicopter Destroyed
Cobardes
Laureles Bomb 1
Laureles Bomb 2
Center for International Policy – Colombia
Insurgents Grow, Army Numbers Flat
The FARC guerillas and the main paramilitary organization, the AUC, have grown their ranks in the last 3 years according to a Colombian Armed Forces report.
The FARC, the report claims, now have 27,000 combatants, among them 10,000 in urban militias. The ELN guerillas are estimated to have 7,500 combatants, 40 per cent of which (3,000) operate in the cities. The AUC are thought to have 10,500 fighters but in a Feb 12 interview, AUC leader Salvatore Mancuso claims 14,000. The Colombian Armed Forces number 164,000, a figure that does not reflect estimates that as few as 20,000 soldiers are actually in the field and ready to fight insurgents. [Summary based on story in El Colombiano, 14 Feb 2002 p12A.]
