Colombia: February 13, 2003

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A US government Cessna 208 aircraft crash landed in southern Colombia, killing two of the five men (four Americans, one Colombian). The aircraft apparently had mechanical problems and it is feared that nearby FARC rebels seized the three survivors. The Americans were involved with the US government effort to help Colombia eradicate drug production. There are some 500 American military and 300 civilian personnel involved in this effort. 

The government says it has uncovered evidence of FARC connections with Basque separatists in Spain and IRA terrorists in Britain. Both of these foreign groups have long used the bombing techniques that FARC has recently adopted.