24 POLICEMAN FEARED DEAD

BOGOTA, Colombia: Leftist rebels attacking a police station in a mountain
town claimed to have killed nearly two dozen officers, and authorities said
they feared the worst as they struggled to deploy reinforcements. Radio
transmissions from the besieged police officers in the town of Arboleda were
cut about 24 hours after the attack began. The rebels of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, told a local photojournalist who tried to
enter Arboleda that they had killed 23 police officers.

Police said they could not confirm the report, but said it was possible that
casualties are high among the 26 officers stationed in Arboleda.

It looks like there have been many killed, national police Colonel Mario
Gutierrez said.

The attack could be the bloodiest since the United States approved $US1.3
billion ($AU2.2 billion) in aid to Colombia to battle leftist rebels and
other armed groups involved in narcotics production. As a rebel offensive
heats up, there are calls for the aid to be used for anti-guerilla missions
that aren't directly related to drugs.

The rebels have reportedly mined access routes to Arboleda, 145km northwest
of the capital, Bogota. National police chief General Ernesto Gilibert was
at the airport in the provincial capital, Manizales, co-ordinating with the
army and air force to get reinforcements to the town, Gutierrez said.

"We fear the worst," said Police Col. Norberto Pelaez, the police commander
in Caldas province, where Arboleda is located.

Low cloud cover in the mountainous region was paralysing air support
operations. The rebels prevented the local photographer, who was interviewed
on national radio, from entering the town.

Gutierrez said it was unclear if US-supplied Blackhawk combat helicopters,
which provide security for planes fumigating drug-producing coca and poppy
fields, would be used in the fighting in Arboleda if the weather cleared.

US Ambassador Curtis W. Kamman said Colombian security forces weren't
restricted to using the Blackhawks only for anti-drug operations.

The Blackhawks can be used "to defend the police and military forces if they
are under attack in a zone where there are anti-narcotics activities,"
Kamman as quoted as saying in an interview Saturday with ANCOL, the
Colombian government's news agency.

However, Arboleda is not believed to be in a coca-or poppy-producing region,
meaning their use to help the besieged police might violate US policy.

The same issue came up in a similar attack mounted by the FARC on July 15 on
the southwestern town of Roncesvalles. The rebels besieged the police
station in the town, and after police ran out of ammunition, the rebels
allegedly executed 13 of the officers.

Under the new US aid, approved by US President Bill Clinton on July 13,
Washington will provide 60 more helicopters, including Blackhawks and Hueys,
to Colombian security forces.