Rebels Storm Town, Killing 3, Robbing Banks

Hundreds of armed leftist guerrillas stormed a town near Bogota on Saturday, robbing banks, destroying City Hall and killing three people, police said.

About 300 rebels carrying grenades and automatic weapons took over Venecia, 50 miles south of Bogota, the capital, in the early morning hours.

The guerrillas robbed two banks, killing a bank president, and destroyed the phone company office and City Hall during a four-hour assault, the town’s mayor, Luis Arturo Beltran, told RCN radio.

Authorities believe the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the largest and oldest rebel group, was responsible.