Twelve FARC guerrillas were killed when the Colombian airforce and special forces attacked one of guerrilla leader “Alfonso Cano’s” security rings in the central Tolima department early Sunday morning, the Colombian armed forces say.
The operation took place around 1AM in a mountainous area called Planadas, some 2,500 meters above sea level.
Members of the army’s special forces unit found the bodies of eight men and four women after the airforce had carried out an attack on the guerrillas.
One of the dead guerrillas is reportedly Magaly Grannobles, alias “Marleny Rondon,” head of the Heroes of Maquetalla mobile column that is in charge of the protection of Alfonso Cano, the guerrilla’s #1 leader.
Colombian armed forces have been carrying out offensives against Cano since he took over the FARC leadership following the death of founder Manuel Marulanda in 2008.
Cano is believed to be hiding in the mountains in the south of Tolima.
