22 Colombia Rebels Killed, Army Says

BOGOTA, Colombia — Skirmishes across Colombia left 22 leftist rebels and two soldiers dead Saturday, the army said.

In Tolima state, soldiers killed six members of the National Liberation Army--Colombia’s second-largest rebel group--after rebels kidnapped seven people at a roadblock, army Capt. Luis Hernandez said.

One soldier died and two were injured in the rescue operation, which took place 70 miles northwest of the capital, Bogota, Hernandez said. The hostages were freed unharmed.

Fighting in Antioquia state killed eight fighters from the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Eight FARC fighters and one soldier were also killed in Santander state when soldiers destroyed seven rebel camps, Hernandez said.

The guerrillas--who control large swathes of Colombia’s countryside--are battling the government and a right-wing paramilitary army. The nearly 4-decade-old conflict has killed more than 35,000 people in the past decade.

President Andres Pastrana has held on-and-off peace talks with the guerrillas to end the war, but the negotiations have so far failed to produce results.