By JARED KOTLER
             Associated Press

             BOGOTA, Colombia -- Leftist rebels yielded the Amazon Basin city of Mitu to
             government forces Wednesday after Colombia sent hundreds of troops to the
             remote jungle area to end a three-day guerrilla onslaught.

             The rebel takeover of Mitu dealt Colombia's security forces the latest in a string of
             defeats in a civil war that has lasted more than three decades. Unofficial counts
             said 150 soldiers and police, seven civilians and five rebels died in the latest
             fighting.

             The seizure of the capital of southeastern Vaupes state, a city of 15,000 people,
             underscored the military advantage of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
             Colombia (FARC) and fueled doubts about its professed interest in negotiating
             peace.
             Police officers taken captive

             As many as 1,400 guerrillas leveled Mitu's 125-man police garrison on Sunday
             with a barrage of homemade missiles. They seized Mitu's airstrip, blew up its
             communications tower and fought off army reinforcements before retreating
             around midnight Tuesday. Some 45 police officers were taken captive.

             To retake the city, which is surrounded by jungle, about 500 soldiers fought their
             way in after refueling their transport planes and helicopters at an airfield just across
             the border in Brazil, said army spokesman Capt. Fernando Avila.

             The Brazilian government protested the use of its territory for the operation and
             recalled its ambassador for consultations.

             Mitu hospital director William Vaquero said 150 soldiers and seven civilians died
             in the fighting, which devastated a four-block area including a bank, the
             prosecutor's office, a school and part of the hospital.

             The guerrillas said five rebels were killed and 15 wounded.

             The army and police contingent walked into the devastated town Wednesday after
             battling the guerrillas since Monday.
             Pastrana: Peace talks will continue

             Despite the fighting, President Andres Pastrana insists he will go ahead with peace
             talks with the FARC in coming weeks to end the 34-year conflict. Critics say the
             guerrillas' actions confirm that their only real goal is toppling the government.

             ``The war in Colombia has become a war for power. It's no longer a war to make
             substantive changes in the lives of Colombians,'' said political analyst Rafael Nieto.

             Many observers believe the FARC hopes to force Pastrana to cede control over
             most of southern Colombia -- a vast area stretching from the eastern Andean chain
             to the border with Brazil.

             The armed forces and police struggled to explain why they were not better
             prepared for the attack on Mitu, which local residents said they had expected.

             ``Here everyone knew the guerrillas were coming,'' Vaquero said in a radio
             interview. ``The only thing we didn't know was the day and the hour.''

             The military chief, Gen. Fernando Tapias, said the guerrillas had gradually moved
             fighters toward Mitu a few at time on buses and canoes, dressed as civilians.
             Mitu post beefed up

             A high-ranking police official said the rebel buildup was detected and that
             manpower at the Mitu police post had been tripled since early September as a
             result. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity.

             Tapias claimed the military was not alerted to the guerrilla buildup because ``the
             population is totally involved in drug trafficking and so the people don't give [us]
             any information.''

             The FARC relies heavily on ``taxing'' drug crop cultivation by farmers to fund its
             activities. Anti-narcotics police say drug crops are minimal in the Mitu area, though
             chemicals used to make cocaine enter Colombia from Brazil via the Vaupes River,
             which passes through the town.
 

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