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23 soldiers killed as suspected rebels down helicopter national |
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news report
 Wednesday March 05, 2003 11:10 by ANNCOL news at anncol dot com
 The Colombian Army looses yet another US donated Black Hawk helicopter during clashes with guerrillas. Several serious reverses for the government forces in the last few weeks. 03.03.2003 (By Maria Engqvist, ANNCOL Stockholm) A US donated Black Hawk assault helicopter is thought to have been shot down last Wednesday by leftist rebels, killing all 23 soldiers onboard. The Colombian Army high command initially reported that the helicopter crashed because of bad weather while on a counterinsurgency mission in the mountains of northern Colombia. But local campesino Daniel Linares told daily El Tiempo that the chopper crashed after being shot at, presumably by leftist guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or the National Liberation Army (ELN). Both rebel armies, who are fighting for socialist reforms, have a strong presence in the area. In recent years Washington has donated 63 assault helicopters to assist the Bogota government in the civil war. Many of them are Black Hawks who have an almost mythical status to Colombia's military top commanders, who see them as just the right weapon to tackle the guerrillas. It is however not the first time that rebels shoot down US donated Black Hawks. During the battle of Dabeiba in the Antioquia department in October 2000, FARC guerrillas shot down one Black Hawk and damaged two others, leaving a total of 56 government troops dead, before retreating. More recently, the Colombian Army has suffered heavy losses at the hands of FARC rebels in the southern department of Putumayo and in the oil-rich eastern departments of Arauca and Casanare. A few weeks ago, 43 paramilitary fighters attached to the Colombian Army's 18th Brigade were killed in a series of clashes in Arauca and Casanare. Only days before, 46 pro-government paramilitary fighters were reported killed by the FARC during a surprise assault in Putumayo where also 5 FARC guerrillas died. The heaviest recent blow to the security forces is however the February 13th shootdown of a US spy plane near the southern town of Florencia. FARC guerrillas are still holding 3 CIA agents from the plane captured and have offered to include them in a prisoner swap for jailed guerrilla fighters.
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Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Great stuff, now thay have some material for 'Black Hawk Down 2'.
How many killed?
Our Northern Brethren have taught them well.
I believe the RIR & SAS were over training the Colombian Army. THe PSNI gave advice on how to torture confessions out of people.
It's a shame to see someone taking pleasure in
the deaths of the working-class and peasant young
men who make up the bulk of the Army of the
Colombian Republic. It's the same kind of
attitude as we may shortly see among warmongers
who will take pleasure in death and mayhem in Iraq. There is something a little disgusting about cheer-leading wars from thousands of miles away, though it is something Irish people often tend to do.
As a matter of fact, there is no evidence that
this was a FARC attack; in fact the pilot was
reporting engine trouble for several minutes
before he went down. But it doesn't really matter
whether or not the FARC killed these people--we
know that they have killed thousands of Colombians
over the past year or two, the great majority of
them workers and peasants. They have rejected
the offers by the Colombian state to work towards
a peaceful settlement, and remain further from
winning their "war" than any time since they were
founded in the 1960s. They have nothing to offer Colombia except death and despair, and that's why they have no popular support and could not survive except for the drugs trade.
It's a shame to see someone taking pleasure in
the deaths of the working-class and peasant young
men who make up the bulk of the Army of the
Colombian Republic. It's the same kind of
attitude as we may shortly see among warmongers
who will take pleasure in death and mayhem in Iraq. There is something a little disgusting about cheer-leading wars from thousands of miles away, though it is something Irish people often tend to do.
As a matter of fact, there is no evidence that
this was a FARC attack; in fact the pilot was
reporting engine trouble for several minutes
before he went down. But it doesn't really matter
whether or not the FARC killed these people--we
know that they have killed thousands of Colombians
over the past year or two, the great majority of
them workers and peasants. They have rejected
the offers by the Colombian state to work towards
a peaceful settlement, and remain further from
winning their "war" than any time since they were
founded in the 1960s. They have nothing to offer Colombia except death and despair, and that's why they have no popular support and could not survive except for the drugs trade.
It's a shame to see someone taking pleasure in
the deaths of the working-class and peasant young
men who make up the bulk of the Army of the
Colombian Republic. It's the same kind of
attitude as we may shortly see among warmongers
who will take pleasure in death and mayhem in Iraq. There is something a little disgusting about cheer-leading wars from thousands of miles away, though it is something Irish people often tend to do.
As a matter of fact, there is no evidence that
this was a FARC attack; in fact the pilot was
reporting engine trouble for several minutes
before he went down. But it doesn't really matter
whether or not the FARC killed these people--we
know that they have killed thousands of Colombians
over the past year or two, the great majority of
them workers and peasants. They have rejected
the offers by the Colombian state to work towards
a peaceful settlement, and remain further from
winning their "war" than any time since they were
founded in the 1960s. They have nothing to offer Colombia except death and despair, and that's why they have no popular support and could not survive except for the drugs trade.
"Joe Ranii", you obviously do not know what is happening in Colombia. If you put aside your ideological ravings just for one moment, you will notice that the vast majority of murders are committed by the state as a result of class war throughout the country, a well known fact by the human rights groups. The corrupt right wing authoritarian regime does not want peace, it wants to eliminate all opposition to its disasterous US neoliberal agendas! The FARC, ELN and trade unions have repeatedly demanded peace with social justice and dialogue with the government, not the other way around! No insurgency can survive for over 4 decades without widespread support, Latin Americanists claim they have political influence of aproximately 50% of Colombia's municipalities. According to the DEA, the insurgency is not involved in drug trafficking but the right wing paramilitary death squads are! And lastly, it was the FARC who put down the helicopter, that is what revolutionaries fighting fascists do. Your "anti-war" liberal rhetoric and ignorance of the subject does you no credit.
Viva FARC.