Is American CIA Helping To Kill Rebel FARC Leaders In Colombia?

After launching their own investigation, the Washington Post is reporting that the CIA is lending aid to the Colombian government by helping them to kill at least 24 members of the anti-government rebel group FARC. The report and allegation is based on interviews with unidentified sources with officials from both the Unites States and Colombia. The Washington Post is reporting that the United States supplied Colombia with “GPS bomb kits [to] help Latin American nation cripple rebel forces.” FARC has been operating in Colombia for over 50-years; periodic peace talks with the group have failed in the past.

The operation was a covert one that according to the report helped to kill two-dozen FARC leaders leaving the group in its most vulnerable state in its half-century history. The Colombians and the Americans have reportedly been working together since 2000, when they came up with a plan to combat illegal drugs. FARC and the Colombian government are currently going through another round of peace talks. The report suggests the loss of their top-level officials is what made the rebel group want to return to the negotiating table.

The peace talks are being negotiated in Cuba and it is the first time either side has come face to face in at least 10-years. The Washington Post said in their report that they would not name their sources since the operation is still active. With the help of the CIA the Colombian Air Force was able to find and bomb rebel leaders as they hid in their jungle hideouts. According to the Post Colombia used “U.S made smart-bombs” in a 2008 operation in which FARC commander Raul Reyes was killed.

The CIA would not give the Washington Post a comment regarding their story but Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that the United States and the CIA in particular had been “of help” in providing Colombia with a means to combat the rebel group as well as “better training and knowledge.” The Havana peace talks began in 2012 but battles between the rebel group and the Colombian government still rage. FARC rebels first began to fight the government in 1964 and with the help of the U.S Colombia has been able to reduce their ranks to only 9,000 fighters.