BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) --Suspected right-wing paramilitaries massacred 12
people in northern Colombia, authorities said Thursday.

Eight of the victims were shot after being taken from their homes in the town of
Montebello, 220 kilometers (135 miles) northwest of Bogota on Wednesday. Four
other bodies were found outside the nearby town of Tamesis. Two of the victims
were decapitated.

One of the bodies was marked with the letters AUC, the acronym for the outlawed
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, according to the mayor of Montebello,
Jose Maria Mejia. It was unclear how the body was marked.

The area has traditionally been controlled by the National Liberation Army, the
second-largest leftist guerrilla force in the country.

The AUC has been blamed for the majority of the massacres in the country.
Typically, they kill villagers they believe are supporting the rebels.

Colombia's 37-year civil war pits the leftist guerrillas against the AUC and
government forces. An estimated 3,500 people die in the conflict every year, the
majority civilians.

 Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.