At least 17 guerrillas and two soldiers were killed in clashes between the left wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian military, officials said Monday. The soldiers and police were retaliating for an attack last week by rebels on the town of Toribio, where four police officers and a child were killed and 20 homes were destroyed through grenade attacks. The retaliation took place in the same region, in the southwestern province of Cauca, a spokesperson for the regional government told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa. FARC has been at war with the government for more than four decades, and no end is in sight for the violence, which is inextricably linked to Colombia's illegal drug trade. --SP 1806 Local Time 1506 GMT
