Colombian rebels kill 17 in show of strength

BOGOTA, Colombia, Nov 1 (Reuters) Colombian guerrillas attacked a police command today killing 16 officers and a civilian in one of the worst blows this year to President Alvaro Uribe's US-backed campaign to end a 40-year conflict.

The attack in the province of Cordoba is part of a two-week offensive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that has dampened hopes of talks with Uribe's government over the release of rebel hostages and an eventual peace accord.

''The FARC attacked the local population and a police post ... a civilian and 16 police were killed as a result of this terrorist assault,'' the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Three rebels also were killed in the attack and two police officers and three civilians were wounded.

About 100 rebels using improvised mortars made from gas cylinders -- one of the FARC's favorite but least accurate weapons -- attacked the town of Tierradentro in Cordoba province, about 380 km from Bogota, authorities said.

Government helicopters and aircraft flew in to back troops sent to control the town. Police and residents said the rebel assault damaged and burned homes near the police station.

The attack was the latest since Uribe pulled back from possible negotiations with the 17,000-member FARC over the release of hostages the rebels are holding, including three US contract workers captured nearly four years ago.

Uribe came to office in 2002 with a hard-line promise to smash the guerrillas. Violence dropped after he sent troops to retake urban areas and highways once controlled by rebels. He also demobilized illegal militias who once fought the FARC.

The president, a US-trained attorney who has received millions in US military to fight the rebels and Colombia's cocaine trade, softened his tone after his May re-election and recently appeared close to possible talks.

The FARC said last month that a hostage swap could set the stage for peace negotiations. It has said it is open to talks despite recent attacks.

But Uribe backed away after blaming the FARC for an attack at a Bogota military college two weeks ago. Another car bomb in Villavicencio, 70 km from Bogota, killed one soldier and a taxi driver outside an army base during the weekend.

Uribe ordered troops to rescue hostages and demanded an act of ''good faith'' from the rebels, such as a possible cease-fire.

The area of today's Cordoba attack had been controlled by rightist paramilitaries until they surrendered in the peace deal with Uribe. The ''paras'' are responsible for some of the conflict's worst atrocities in a dirty war against the FARC.

''The FARC will likely continue to take towns as part of a counteroffensive to show force, to show that they have not been defeated,'' said Alfredo Rangel, director of Bogota's Security and Democracy think tank.

''It will be their tactic before they get to any negotiations with the government,'' he said.

Thousands are still killed or forced from their homes every year by the conflict. The FARC, branded terrorists by Washington, say they fight for a socialist state but mainstream left-wing politicians say the rebels have little support.

Reuters SRS VP0202