October 5, 2005: Some of the drug gangs, associated with the AUC rebels, are negotiating to take advantage of the amnesty. To that end, factions of the Norte del Valle gang have agreed to stop fighting and talk to the government. The Norte del Valle feud has left several hundred dead in the last two years. Between that feud, and increasing government attacks, the drug business is not as easy as it used to be.
October 4, 2005: FARC tried to use a truck bomb to attack an army convoy, but the bomb went off prematurely, killing three civilians. Rebels the world over have been inspired by the terrorist use of roadside bombs in Iraq. But most rebels do not have trained bomb making technicians available, as do the Sunni Arab Iraqis, who used to work for Saddam's security forces.
October 1, 2005: In the western Colombia, a FARC attack on a police station left one policeman dead and three wounded. The rebels will try to intimidate the local police, to inhibit the cops from collecting information on rebel operations.
September 30, 2005: Rebels in the northeast shot down a spraying aircraft, that was destroying coca plants. The single-engine T-65 Turbo Thrush aircraft was operating 460 kilometers northeast of the capital. The drug gangs up there have been resisting government attempts to shut them down.
