At least 17 Colombian rebels were killed in gunfights with the army on Monday night and Tuesday, the army said, as fighting increases ahead of May’s presidential election. Most of the dead were from the 17,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which funds its four-decade-old war against the state through drug smuggling, kidnapping and extortion No soldiers died in the battles, which took place in seven provinces from La Guajira in the north to the central jungles of Meta, the army said. Full Story