Amnesty International has condemned the killing of eight hostages by leftist rebels in Colombia, calling it a show of "blatant disregard" for international humanitarian law.
Ten hostages - a governor of Medellin province, a provincial peace commissioner and eight soldiers - were killed on Monday during an attempt by the Colombian army to rescue them from rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
"The killing of the hostages underlines the urgency that the government and guerrilla forces reach an humanitarian agreement to help ensure that the civilian population is shielded from the conflict," Amnesty International said in a statement.
Amnesty said it was once more calling on the FARC "to put an immediate end to kidnapping and hostage-taking and to immediately and unconditionally release all victims of kidnapping."
AFP
