Two FARC rebels, Colombian soldier killed in battle

Two FARC rebels and a Colombian special forces soldier were killed in a firefight that broke out in the country's southwest when the army occupied a guerrilla camp, authorities said today.
The incident occurred yesterday afternoon in Cauca department in Caldono municipality, the army said in a statement.
"Two terrorists who were in possession of long range rifle-type weapons were neutralized," it said, also confirming the soldier's death.
Following a search of the area, an M-60 machine gun, five rifles of varying calibers, more than 400 rounds of ammunition and a "considerable quantity of material used in the manufacture of explosives" was recovered, the army said.

The FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- is the country's largest leftist guerrilla group, and the insurgency it has waged since 1964 is the oldest in Latin America.
Peace talks between the rebels and the government began last November but are currently in recess until June 11. So far they have addressed only the first item on a five-point agenda -- land reform.
Land distribution was one of the triggers of the decades-old conflict in Colombia, where there is gaping inequality between wealthy landowners and poor peasants.
The FARC declared a unilateral ceasefire in November but ended it after two months, when the government refused to follow suit. The military and the rebels have clashed sporadically since then.