Colombia’s troops pushed deeper into a former rebel haven Tuesday as guerrillas intensified sabotage attacks and kidnappings.
Walter Castro, mayor of the town of Puerto Rico, just outside the zone, said he was the target of a failed assassination attempt by rebels.
He said two of his guards were shot to death in the attack. The town’s two previous mayors were killed by rebels.
Five others died in attacks around the country blamed on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Witnesses reported FARC rebels also killed seven civilians last weekend in La Macarena, one of five towns inside the former rebel sanctuary, as the guerrillas retreated ahead of an army advance.
Troops moving to retake the former rebel enclave reached La Macarena, a dusty outpost, for the first time Tuesday and were investigating the reported killings, the army said.
