Troops Kill a Key Guerrilla Leader

Army troops in southern Colombia killed the commander of an elite guerrilla unit blamed for a string of high-profile attacks and kidnappings, officials said.

Humberto Valbuena, the head of the Teofilo Forero unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was killed Monday in Caqueta state, an army spokeswoman said.

Authorities blame the Teofilo Forero for the abduction of three American defense contractors after their plane crashed in a guerrilla stronghold in February 2003, as well as for several deadly bombings in Bogota, the capital.