Rebels bombed

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia -- The government launched airstrikes and ordered 13,000 troops to advance on a main rebel stronghold Thursday as Colombia's 38-year-old civil war entered a potentially new and bloodier phase with the collapse of peace talks. \nBombs were falling on rebel territory just hours after President Andres Pastrana -- angered by a rebel hijacking of a civilian airliner -- broke off the peace talks and condemned the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. \nThere were no immediate reports of casualties. \nArmy officials said 85 targets were hit in more than 200 sorties over the FARC zone, an area the size of Switzerland that was the site of the peace talks. Targets included clandestine airstrips and rebel training camps. Pastrana ceded the area to the FARC in November 1998 in an effort to bring the 16,000-strong rebel army to the negotiating table. The rebel haven is sparsely populated, with a population of about 100,000. \nThree planeloads of counterinsurgency troops landed at an airport in Florencia, a three-hour drive west of the zone. A top army commander predicted a bloody fight, though by midday Thursday there were no signs that Marines and Army troops had entered the zone. \nMany Colombians rallied around Pastrana, whose peace policy had been highly unpopular. \n"Colombia was generous with the guerrillas, but now there is no way to continue this process," said Sabas Pretelt de la Vega, a top business leader.\nThe Roman Catholic Church urged citizens to "close ranks" around the government but said negotiations should be a priority. \n"It's dicey, and we will surely suffer casualties, but we have a moral obligation to win this war," Gen. Euclides Sanchez told Caracol Radio. \nResidents in the rebel area's largest town, San Vicente del Caguan, posted white flags at their homes in hopes of bringing protection.\n"The white flags symbolize peace. We don't want anything to happen," said homemaker Amelia de Ficaro, 68. \nCitizens stripped six vehicles abandoned by the rebels along a road outside town. Also left behind was a sign that referred to U.S. anti-drug aid to Colombia. "The gringos give the arms. Colombia provides the dead," it said. Some 3,500 people are killed annually in the 38-year war. \nA rebel in camouflage uniform and brandishing an AK-47 rifle manned a checkpoint outside San Vicente del Caguan.\n"We'll keep patrolling because this is Colombia and we're all over Colombia," he said.\nHe waved through some journalists, wishing them "feliz viaje" -- happy trip. \nThe FARC had yet to comment on the offensive. Phone lines to rebel headquarters were cut shortly after Pastrana condemned a rebel hijacking of a civilian airliner Wednesday. Guerrillas kidnapped a senator and released 29 crew and passengers. \nThe hijacking and weeks of rebel bombings belied FARC pledges to seek a cease-fire by April. \n"Everybody is tired," said Samuel Dominguez, a cheese vendor in Bogota, the capital. "Now we have to accept that we are at war and confront it. Hopefully, we will win." \nThe United States reiterated its support for Pastrana's government, and a U.N. peace envoy applauded Pastrana and criticized the FARC for repeated human rights violations. \n"I hope the FARC thinks things over and changes its attitude," said the envoy, James LeMoyne, who had gotten the two sides to agree to cease-fire talks last month. \nLeMoyne expressed concern for the safety of some 100,000 residents in the zone. He said right-wing paramilitaries could take advantage of the offensive to hunt down citizens suspected of collaborating with the rebels. \nThe escalation comes as Washington is considering expanding training and equipment deliveries to the Colombian military. At any given time, there are about 250 U.S. military personnel, 50 civilian employees and 100 civilian military contractors in Colombia. \nSanchez said none were participating in Thursday's offensive. \nThe U.S. government has limited its military aid to counternarcotics operations but has also labeled the FARC a terrorist organization -- leaving open the possibility it could provide aid to fight the group. The George W. Bush administration has asked Congress to authorize $98 million to train and arm a Colombian army brigade to protect an oil pipeline. \nColombia's war pits the FARC and a smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army, against government troops and an outlawed paramilitary militia. \nPastrana, who had staked his presidency on bringing an end to Colombia's war, insisted that the three-year effort toward making peace with the FARC had not been wasted. He said the military was stronger than it had ever been. And he said the process was proof that the FARC could not negotiate in good faith.