Colombia fires soldiers over civilian deaths
Sunday 25 January 2009
Printable
EmailBOGOTA announced at the weekend that another 10 Colombian soldiers have been fired after a military probe linked them to the deaths of civilians passed off as left-wing guerillas killed in combat.
The soldiers are suspected of having been involved in the kidnapping and murder of 11 young men who "disappeared" from a Bogota slum before their bodies were unearthed in mass graves in north-east Colombia.
Since October, at least 37 soldiers have been fired for killing scores of civilians whose deaths were registered as rebel casualties.
Recent declassified documents show that Washington has been aware of the practice of civilian killings by the army since at least 1990.
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