5 Colombian farmers killed in rebel attack

Gunmen hunted down and killed five farmers in a Colombian region plagued by violence and drug trafficking in an attack authorities blamed on the nation's largest rebel group. Community leader Carlos Beer said at least 70 gunmen went house-to-house in the village of Currulao with a list of names late Tuesday, killing three women and two men with shots to the head. Eleven othes were injured in the attack, which took place near the port of Turbo, 470 kilometers northwest of the capital, Bogota. "There is a strong FARC (guerrilla) presence in the region," said Beer. "The guerrilla group gave the community a warning when they murdered a farmer on the outskirts of Currulao a week ago." In an interview with Caracol radio on Wednesday, Mayor William Palacio blamed the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for the killings. He said the victims were deserters from the leftist insurgency and ex-members of far-right paramilitaries.