Top Colombian Farc commander killed

A top commander of the Colombian rebel group Farc, Raul Reyes, was killed in combat in southern province near the frontier with Ecuador, a Colombian army source said today.

Reyes was one of the seven members of the secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's oldest surviving left-wing insurgency, which US and European officials label a terrorist group.

The death of one of its top commanders would be the most serious blow to the FARC under the government of President Alvaro Uribe, who has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid to fight the rebels and cocaine traffickers.

Violence from Colombia's conflict has ebbed under Uribe, who has sent troops to retake areas under the control of armed groups. But the FARC is still potent in remote areas, where it is holding scores of hostages including three US contract workers and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.