BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Marxist rebels killed at least nine civilians and
                  destroyed buildings with homemade mortars and a car bomb in a ferocious raid
                  on a Colombian mountain town that left three policeman and one soldier dead,
                  authorities said Friday.

                  The toll from the attack by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
                  (FARC), the hemisphere's largest guerrilla army, was still uncertain, as more
                  civilians are feared to be buried under tons of rubble in the northeastern town of
                  Granada.

                  "We have nine civilians dead and fifteen others
                  have been sent to hospital but the death toll can go
                  up since more bodies are being found," said Gen.
                  Eduardo Herrera of the IV Army Brigade in
                  Antioquia province.

                  The offensive was launched Wednesday, the same
                  day President Andres Pastrana extended a decree
                  that allows the FARC to control an area in
                  southeastern Colombia the size of Switzerland
                  which has been the venue for slow-moving peace
                  talks.

                  An estimated 100 FARC rebels detonated a
                  powerful car bomb in front of a police station and
                  rained propane gas cylinders packed with
                  explosives and shrapnel in the attack, which lasted
                  into Thursday.

                  By the time the 18-hour raid was over and army
                  reinforcements took control of the town, entire
                  blocks of houses had been leveled. Residents
                  frantically sifted through the debris for missing loved ones. Others walked in
                  shock amid three-story high rubble.

                  Antioquia police commander Gen. Duran Quintanilla said the rebels "hunted
                  house by house for police officers."

                  "Their orders were to kill every police officer," Quintanilla told local radio
                  Radionet. Eight FARC rebels were also killed in the attack.

                  Pastrana, who has made peace his priority, extended the land-for-peace deal for
                  the sixth time but for a shorter period and with tighter restrictions, including
                  army checkpoints to search for weapons and chemical precursors allegedly used
                  by the rebels to produce and export cocaine.

                  By extending the FARC's control until January 31, Pastrana is seeking to put
                  pressure on the entrenched rebels and force them into making peace concessions
                  after a war that has taken the lives of 35,000 people since 1990.

                  The peace talks, which started two years ago, have stalled and war-weary
                  Colombians have little if any faith in the negotiations, according to the latest
                  polls.

                  Seeking to rein in growing levels of violence, Pastrana said late Thursday he will
                  send a law to Congress that would grant blanket amnesty for the army fighting
                  "terrorism" and rampant kidnapping.

                  But Pastrana's proposal - unveiled during a speech to navy officers - is likely to
                  face constitutional challenges.

                     Copyright 2000 Reuters.