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Thursday July 5, 2012

Colombia rebel attack kills five at oil plant


BOGOTA: Armed assailants killed five refinery workers and wounded three Wednesday, in an explosion at Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol, the company announced.

The army blamed the attack in Putumayo, a restive region on the border with Ecuador, on the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Ecopetrol denounced the violence, which killed and wounded workers from subcontracting companies, saying the attack "violates international humanitarian law."

Gunmen believed to be associated with FARC opened fire on five men Sunday in southeast Colombia, in an attack blamed on score-settling between a criminal gang and a group linked to the FARC rebels.

Colombia's oil industry is undergoing expansion, with a daily production of 995,000 barrels. Industry workers are often targeted by FARC and other rebel groups in kidnappings and acts of sabotage.

Founded in 1964, FARC, Colombia's leading guerrilla group, counts some 9,200 members, spread out mostly in rural areas, according to authorities. - AFP

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