GUNMEN KILL PEASANTS IN COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, Colombia: Gunmen wearing military uniforms went to at a northern
farm, singled out at least nine workers and killed them by shooting them in
the head, the army said.

An army spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday a local
priest reported that as many as 30 or more campesinos, or peasants, may have
been killed Thursday by the gunmen in two separate massacres near the
village of Tierralta, 530 km north of Bogota.

Troops were headed to the region to determine what happened and the extent
of the casualties, the spokesman said. It was not immediately clear who the
killers were, but local media reports speculated they were members of a
right-wing paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia,
or AUC.

Cordoba province, where the killings occurred, is an AUC stronghold.

The vigilantes have targeted campesinos before in the farming and ranching
region as they hunted for sympathizers of leftist guerrillas groups who
extort money from large landowners and kidnap them.

The AUC is estimated to have some 6,000 combatants and has links to
government security forces. Many AUC fighters are former government
soldiers.

The AUC is paid by landowners for protection services and makes money by
taxing Colombia's drug trade. (AP)