4 FARC Rebels Dead, 2 Held in Colombia Operation

Colombia's defense minister said Wednesday that four FARC guerrillas were killed and two others captured in an operation in the southwestern part of the country.

Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said the action occurred in a place called El Peaje in the department of Caqueta.

Among those killed was 27-year-old Beatriz Anturia, the head of a FARC unit involved in extortion and drug trafficking, he said.

He said weapons and documents of intelligence value were seized in the operation.

The FARC, which is engaged in peace talks with the government, has been observing a unilateral cease-fire except in self defense since July 20.

The government reciprocated by suspending air strikes on rebel camps but not other types of offensive military operations.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC by its Spanish acronym, is the country's oldest and largest leftist rebel group having waged a guerrilla war since its founding in 1964.

After nearly three years of negotiations in Havana, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC have set a March 2016 target date for reaching a final peace accord.