COLOMBIA MOURNS CHILDREN KILLED IN SHOOTOUT

Pastrana Vows To Investigate Army's Role

PUEBLO RICO, Colombia -- Six children were buried in Pueblo Rico on
Wednesday, one day after they died under a hail of bullets while on a school
outing.

The government and army say the children were caught in cross fire between
rebels and soldiers, but townspeople and the children themselves insist
there were no guerrillas in the area and that troops were the only ones
firing.

"Those who fired at us were soldiers. ... There were no guerrillas. ... One
soldier started crying and said he had killed innocent children," one young
girl, who declined to be identified, told reporters in Pueblo Rico.

Five other children were injured in the attack, which took place Tuesday
near this town in war-torn northwest Antioquia province. The dead and
injured were among 60 pupils, ages 6 to 12, walking through the countryside
with teachers and other adults on a school outing.

The regional army commander, Gen. Eduardo Herrera, said the youngsters had
been accidentally caught in the cross fire of a clash between soldiers and
11 National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas near Pueblo Rico. He accused
the insurgents of using the children as "human shields."

But Colombian President Andres Pastrana ordered an investigation on
Wednesday into the town's allegations that the troops, armed with assault
rifles and grenades, had ambushed the school group.

"Today Colombia is in mourning because six children have died in a hail of
bullets. ... How sad it is that here in Colombia parents have to bury their
own children," Pastrana said at an official event in Bogota.

"I personally will ensure that investigations are carried out to completely
clarify who was responsible for this terrible incident," he added.

Colombia has been ravaged by a 30-year conflict between Marxist rebels,
outlaw ultra-right paramilitary gangs and state security forces that has
left more than 35,000 people, mostly civilians, dead in just the last 10
years.

The killings of the schoolchildren came two months after the U.S. Congress
approved a record $1.3 billion package of mostly military aid to help
Colombia fight the drug trade and the guerrillas.

Townspeople in Pueblo Rico, a community of some 12,000 inhabitants, was
stunned by the deaths. Many hung white flags and the tricolor national flag
outside their homes as a mark of respect.

Children Say They Saw No Rebels

Maria Girlesa Villegas, a regional government human rights ombudsman, told
Reuters that the pupils had been hit by bullets and shrapnel.

"According to first-hand accounts, they (the army) were shooting at them for
around 45 minutes," she said. "A 12-year-old child told me he had seen
soldiers but no guerrillas. He felt the soldiers throw something that caused
a powerful explosion."

Pueblo Rico town councilor Hernando Higuita, who arrived on the scene
minutes after the shooting started, insisted there was no cross fire and
that troops, who had clashed with ELN fighters earlier in the day, had
ambushed the party.

"When I shouted to the army not to shoot because these were schoolchildren
they shot even more," Higuita told reporters. "Afterward soldiers came out
crying saying they had committed a grave error and had killed the children."

After the funeral, heavy with grief and bewilderment, family of the victims
demanded that the government find out where the bullets came from. They
asked why only the children of the village died, with no shots striking
soldiers or rebels.