U.S. AID SAID USED IN AIR RAID ON COLOMBIA VILLAGE

BOGOTA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A leading human rights group charged on Monday
that Colombia's military used warplanes and rockets, bought with U.S.
anti-drug aid, during a recent raid on a village in rebel-held territory
that killed up to 27 civilians.

A spokesman for the Colombian Air Force denied it had used military
hardware in the action that had been donated by the United States strictly
for anti-drugs operations. He said the military would issue a fuller
statement later in the day.

The military has denied it "indiscriminately bombed" the village of Santo
Domingo on Dec. 13, but admitted firing off at least six rockets.

The action occurred during three days of fighting by the Colombian military
against Marxist rebels in the oil-rich northeast Arauca province.

Human Rights Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based, group, said on Monday that
OV- 10 Bronco fighter-bombers and a number of helicopters used by the
Colombian military, together with the ammunition, were part of a U.S. aid
package.

Under congressional-imposed guidelines, the United States is barred from
providing military aid to Colombia for use in counterinsurgency operations.
But political analysts say the lines between counter-narcotics and
counter-insurgency have blurred.

Human Rights Watch said: "A unit of the Colombian military that receives
U.S. anti-narcotics aid has used this aid to commit a serious human rights
violation."

"The majority of the Bronco (fighter-bomber) fleet was provided by the
United States ... many of the helicopters used in counter-insurgency
operations were also supplied by the United States to combat drugs," the
group said. "In addition, these aircraft may have been fitted with rocket
launchers, munitions .. provided for the drug war by the United States."

Local authorities and independent regional human rights groups said at
least 27 civilians, including five children, died in Santo Domingo -- one
of the worst civilian casualty rates inflicted in the course of the
long-running civil conflict this year. The military said 14 were killed.

Colombian Armed Forces chiefs last week issued a report saying that
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas had used the
inhabitants as human shields and had set off dynamite in part of the
village to "simulate" an army air strike.

Members of a Colombian congressional committee investigating the incident
said they were not convinced by the army's explanation.

The use of U.S. anti-drug aid against Colombia's estimated 20,000 Marxist
rebels is a sore point with Washington and Bogota.

U.S. defence officials say the rebels have close ties to the drug trade and
pose a serious risk to regional stability yet publicly insist the United
States has no interest in getting bogged down in anti-guerrilla operations.

Florida-based political analyst Eduardo Gamarra says he believes Washington
is well aware it cannot separate the fight against drugs and rebels.

"The lines have been blurred. Publicly Washington will tell you there's a
clear cut distinction but they're not kidding anyone even themselves," he
said.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski