FARC ATTACK KILLS 17 POLICE IN CORDOBA

UNCLAS BOGOTA 010213 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER CO SUBJECT: FARC ATTACK KILLS 17 POLICE IN CORDOBA ¶1. (U) In the early morning hours of 1 November, the FARC attacked a police post in the small town of Tierradentro in southeast Cordoba Department. In a six-hour siege, the terrorists struck the police station with gunfire and cylinder bombs, and then they ambushed trucks arriving with reinforcements. A total of 17 police and two civilians were killed. The attack was conducted by an estimated 450 fighters of the FARC's 18th, 58th, and 5th fronts. This is the FARC's third attack in two weeks against public forces, following car bombs in a military school in Bogota and a brigade headquarters in Villavicencio, Meta Department. ¶2. (U) Such a large concentration of FARC fighters, and in sustained combat, marks a departure from the guerrillas' prevailing modus operandi of small units making hit-and-run attacks. Located in a narcotrafficking corridor, Tierradentro has a history with illegal armed groups: once a stronghold of AUC paramilitaries, in 2005 it was a staging point for their demobilization. When the OAS later informed the Defense Minister of the rearmament of a small AUC structure there, the Minister convoked a Security Council in Tierradentro, announcing the establishment of its police post. At the time the population reported FARC threats to attack the station. DRUCKER