During clash between Colombian paramilitaries and rebels 8 killed

Fighting between leftist rebels and a newly formed band of right-wing paramilitaries killed at least eight people, authorities said Tuesday. The battle broke out Friday between rebels belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and a group of so-called "new generation" paramilitaries in an isolated part of Narino province, close to the border with Ecuador .

"Farmers recovered eight bodies from the site," Narino's Interior Secretary Fabio Trujillo told The Associated Press by telephone. "We don't know if the bodies are from the FARC or from the new generation." More than 30,000 paramilitaries have demobilized under a government peace deal that grants amnesty to the amnesty to the vast majority of fighters. Human rights groups complain it is too lenient.

The Organization of American States has warned that demobilized paramilitaries are rearming in new groups and are continuing to kill political opponents and control much of the illegal drug industry. The little-known bands are often referred to as the new generation. Trujillo said more may have died in Friday's battle, but noted that FARC rebels customarily carry away their dead. Some 300 troops have been sent to the area, he added.

Narino has become an important center of Colombia 's drug trade, with coca plantings and drug laboratories sprouting up across the province. With its close proximity to the Ecuadorean border and to Pacific ports, Narino is also a conduit for smuggling both drugs and arms, reports the AP.

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