Guerrilla attack kills three soldiers, injuries two in Colombia

The Colombian army reported on Sunday that three soldiers were killed and two others injured in an attack staged by National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas in the northeastern Norte del Santander department.

The victims were identified as David Guerrero, Jorge Jimenez and Abraham Hernandez, who were on duty in an armored tank in Sardinata municipality, according to the country's Caracol Radio network.

The military vehicle was completely destroyed. The two soliders injuried -- Miguel Vega Torres and Henry Diaz Suarez -- are being treated at a hospital in the department's capital city of Cucuta.

The authorities blamed the rebels alias "Oswaldo" and "Wilmer," who are commanders of a ELN Front with high presence in this region, for the attack, and have sent troops to the area to track down the rebels.

The ELN is the second largest guerrilla group in Colombia.

The Colombian government has been in an exploratory phase of peace talks with the ELN since last year, and has completed over two years of talks with FARC, in a bid to reach a final peace agreement aimed at ending a five-decade conflict in the South American country. Endi