By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, Jan 18 (Reuters) – At least 27 members of a leftist guerrilla group in Colombia were killed in clashes with a rival faction in a fight over control of a jungle area in southwestern Colombia, military authorities reported on Sunday.
The clashes, which have been the most violent in recent months, occurred in the rural area of the municipality of El Retorno, in the department of Guaviare, 300 kilometers (186 miles) southwest of Bogotá, a military source said.
The region is strategic for cocaine production and trafficking.
The clashes took place between a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) led by Néstor Gregorio Vera, known by his war name Iván Mordisco, and another led by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias Calarcá Córdoba, a second military source specified.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in BogotaEditing by Matthew Lewis)
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