BOGOTA, Colombia -- Troops from the larger of Colombia's two leftist
                  insurgencies killed at least 30 people during assaults in two northern states over
                  the past three days, handing government forces their heaviest losses in months.

                  The dead included 24 police officers and the mayor of the town of Vigia del Fuerte,
                  370 kilometers (230 miles) from Bogota, and several civilians.

                  Guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) struck the town
                  Saturday. Machine-gun fire and inaccurate homemade missiles destroyed the church,
                  the mayor's office, the police barracks, the telephone company and several houses
                  before government troops regained control of the town Sunday night.

                  Vigia del Fuerte is home to about 1,200 people. The assault killed 21 police officers and
                  six civilians, including Mayor Pastor Perea and two young children, Antioquia state
                  officials reported.

                   National police chief Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano visited the destroyed town Monday.
                   He said eight of the slain police officers were shot in the head at close range.

                   Serrano called the attack "cowardly" and questioned FARC's professed sincerity
                   in ongoing peace talks with President Andres Pastrana.

                   In the neighboring town of Bojaya, Serrano reported seven police officers were
                   missing and presumed to have been taken prisoner by the rebels. No rebel deaths
                   were reported in the battle for the two towns.

                  The towns lie on opposite banks of the Atrato River, which leads to the Caribbean
                  Sea, providing a major conduit for smuggling drugs and weapons. The river is hotly
                  contested by rebels and rival right-wing paramilitary groups.

                  Separate clashes flared hundreds of kilometers away Monday in northern
                  Sucre state, where the army reported three soldiers and five rebels were
                  dead.

                            The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.