BOGOTA: Soldiers killed 12 Marxist rebels in an overnight raid in central Colombia while 10 soldiers were killed in separate clashes with guerrillas near the Venezuelan border, the military said Sunday.

The dead rebels included four women and eight men who were tasked with providing security to a key leftist guerrilla commander, Guillermo Leon Saenz, who goes by "Alfonso Cano" and is one of the leading figures of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

They died in a middle-of-the-night raid in the central Colombian province of Tolima, the military said.

The assault, carried out jointly by Colombia`s air force, army and federal police, began around 1:00 am (0600 GMT) in a rural section outside the town of Planadas in the central Colombian mountains.

Among the women killed was Magaly Grannobles, also known as "Marleny Rondon," who headed one of the units responsible for Cano`s security.

"This is a major setback for the guerrillas, because this terrorist, who has assassinated about 70 Colombian soldiers and police officers, was very important to Cano," said General Freddy Padilla, commander of Colombia`s military forces.

Separately, 10 soldiers died in an early morning battle in Arauca, a province bordering Venezuela, the military said, revising upward its earlier toll after four wounded soldiers succumbed to their wounds during evacuation.

The clashes in central and eastern Colombia came a day after three separate attacks attributed to the FARC left three police officers, two soldiers and two civilians dead.

The FARC -- the country`s strongest and oldest guerrilla group -- has been fighting the government since the 1960s. It now includes some 7,500 to 10,000 fighters, according to estimates.


BDST: 0952 HRS, 12 July 2010