Eight killed in bombing in Colombia; government blames rebels

Bogota (dpa) - Eight farm workers were killed and two injured in a roadside bombing in northern Colombia that the government on Sunday blamed on the leftist rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) .

The guerrillas planted 14 explosive charges on a road near the city of Riohacha and detonated them when the victims drove by, a government spokesman said.

Relatives of the victims said they had been threatened with death several times by Colombia's largest and oldest rebel group, which has about 18,000 fighters.

As is customary in Colombia, no one claimed responsibility for the attack, and the motive remained unknown. However, civilians often fall victim in Colombia's 41-year-long civil war when they inadvertantly find themselves on the front lines of battles between FARC and the right-wing paramilitaries for control of illegal drug plantations or smuggling routes for drugs and weapons. dpa ro ls