Seven Colombian soldiers killed in clashes with FARC

Fresh clashes between the Colombian Army and suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have left at least seven soldiers dead.

Five troopers were also wounded in the fighting that broke out in a rural area of the southern province of Caqueta on Wednesday.

The military said in a statement the clashes erupted when its forces were carrying out an operation to protect “civilian population” in the village of San Antonio de Getucha.

It said the government forces inflicted “an indeterminate” number of casualties on the rebel side.

The fighting comes as the government and the rebels are engaged in peace talks to try to end their almost five-decade-old conflict.

FARC, which is Latin America’s oldest insurgent group, has more than 9,000 fighters operating across a large swathe of the eastern jungles of the Andean nation.