Colombian rebels suspected in attack on coca eradication team that kills at least 5, wounds 6

5 killed in attack on Colombia coca eradicators

BOGOTA — Colombian authorities say three soldiers and two civilians have been killed in a rifle and grenade attack on a boat carrying coca eradication workers. They say six people also have wounds and six more are missing.

The mayor of the town where the attack occurred, Pastor Yanely, tells The Associated Press that while leftist rebels are suspected, drug gangs and right-wing paramilitaries also operate in the area.

Officials say the attack occurred Monday on the San Juan river in Choco state, near the Pacific Ocean. The army says eradication teams have in the past three months destroyed nearly half that area’s 1,500 hectares of coca, which is the basis of cocaine.

At least 26 of the 6,000 eradication workers employed by Colombia’s government have been killed the last three years.