Colombia's FARC Rebels Execute Town Leaders
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Leftist rebels dragged four community leaders from their homes and shot them in a park in rural Colombia, authorities said Tuesday.
In a separate incident, a police officer was killed in a gunbattle with rebels, police said.
Guerrillas belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, forced the community leaders from their homes at gunpoint Monday night in a remote hamlet near Yarumal, 200 miles northwest of the capital, acting Mayor Fernando Rodriguez said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"The guerrillas entered the town with a list in their hand and went looking for the community leaders in their houses," Rodriguez said. "They were then vilely assassinated in a park with the entire town watching."
Rodriguez said the victims, including the president and vice president of a neighborhood community organization, had all previously received death threats.
Separately, national police reported that an officer was killed Sunday during a shootout with rebels trying to take control of the town of Solita, 310 miles southwest of Bogota.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Click here to go to FOXNews.com's Americas Center.
The FARC, Latin America's oldest and most potent insurgency, has been trying to overthrow the government for almost a half-century. Its numbers are believed to have dwindled to fewer than 12,000 as a result of an intense, U.S.-backed military campaign launched by President Alvaro Uribe.
The attacks marred what was otherwise a peaceful holiday weekend in Colombia, where according to police, a record 4.2 million tourists traveled along highways that a few years ago were prone to rebel blockades and kidnappings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"The tranquility has allowed Colombians to return to the roads and the beaches," Uribe told RCN Radio on Tuesday morning.
Uribe said a reduction in violence was also the reason why a record 1.3 million foreign tourists visited Colombia last year — more than twice the amount five years ago.