JOIN USGround troops supported by helicopters and warplanes stormed the fortified camp, killing the feared war commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) known as Mono Jojoy, officials said.
The Defense Ministry here yesterday released the first pictures of the dead leader, sending six images to the media that apparently showed him wrapped in bloody camouflaged material. The man's bruised and swollen face is shown but without the moustache that the rebel famously wore.
Bogota confirmed the death of Jorge Briceno Suarez, 57, in a raid on a rebel stronghold in the Meta department in central Colombia involving up to 800 troops including elite special forces.
President Juan Manuel Santos described the raid as "the hardest blow ever" in the history of the guerrilla movement."The symbol of terror in Colombia has fallen," Santos told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.Military officials said the attack was launched Wednesday 1:00 am, and that soldiers found Briceno's body yesterday.Some 20 other rebels were killed in the coordinated military attack, which included jets dropping "smart bombs" on fortified positions