Two Colombian soldiers found dead

www.cnn.com Sunday, February 16, 2003 Posted: 1:40 PM EST (1840 GMT)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- The bodies of two missing Colombian soldiers were found buried in Venezuela, near the border with Colombia, authorities said Sunday.

The two soldiers disappeared on February 1 from the Venezuelan village of El Amparo, across the border from Arauca state, Gen. Carlos Lemus said. Colombian soldiers based in Arauca frequently cross the border in their free time.

Authorities believe the two had been kidnapped by the National Liberation Army, or ELN, Lemus said.

Arauca is one of Colombia's hottest war zones. Rebels attacked and damaged an electrical tower Saturday in the Arauca town of Saravena, 350 kilometers (217 miles) northeast of Bogota, leaving much of the state without power, Lemus said.

The United States has deployed some 70 special forces troops to Arauca to train Colombian troops in counterterrorist tactics, as part of Washington's deepening commitment in Colombia.

Three Americans working for the U.S. government were apparently kidnapped earlier this week when their plane crashed in a jungle region swarming with rebels. The fourth American in the plane and a Colombian were executed by the rebels, said Col. Gen. Jorge Mora, chief of the armed forces.

Hundreds of troops continued to scour the mountainous jungles in search of the three men, who have not been identified.

The single-engine Cessna crashed outside the city of Florencia after U.S. Embassy officials say it had engine trouble. National Police Director Gen. Jorge Campo told reporters Sunday that the plane had been shot at and hit, but that the groundfire was not the reason for the crash.

"Yes, it was hit, things that happened when it was already in the process of an emergency landing, which is a completely different thing from talking about shooting it down," he said.

RCN television showed video of the crashed plane in the lush mountains outside of Florencia.

The United States has given Colombia almost $2 billion in the past three years in mostly military aid. Most of that money was aimed at wiping out the drug trade, but Congress recently lifted restrictions on the aid, allowing Colombia to use the U.S.-trained troops and U.S.-provided equipment to directly battle the rebels.

The rebels consider Washington's involvement in Colombia an act of war and have threatened to target U.S. citizens and interests.