11 Colombian Soldiers Killed in Rebel Attack

The rebels, thought to belong to the National Liberation Army, or ELN, struck as the soldiers were transporting ballots after Sunday’s nationwide provincial and local elections.

The attack took place on an indigenous reserve within the municipal limits of Guican.

Army aircraft were dispatched to the scene to carry out reconnaissance and collect the casualties even as ground units continued to battle ELN fighters in the zone.

The ELN has been engaged since January 2014 in “exploratory conversations” on starting a peace process similar to the one Bogota has been pursuing with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for nearly three years.

On Sunday, a soldier on election-security duty in the northwestern province of Antioquia was killed by the ELN a few hours before the polls opened.

At least nine ELN guerrillas were killed and one was wounded last Thursday in a coordinated police-military operation in the northern province of Bolivar.