THREE Americans thought to have been captured by left-wing guerrillas in Colombia were on a secret intelligence mission inside rebel-held territory, according to military sources.

A huge search-and- rescue mission being carried out by 1,000 Colombian troops, assisted by US spy aircraft, has so far found no sign of the men, who could become valuable bargaining chips in the hands of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the country’s largest rebel army. Two others, an American and a Colombian, were reported to have been shot dead during the capture.

The men were travelling on Thursday morning from Bogotá, the capital, to the Larandia military base, an anti-drug and counter-insurgency operations centre in thick jungle about 235 miles to the south. US special forces have trained Colombian anti-drug battalions at Larandia and US military intelligence experts also operate radar facilities that track drug-smuggling flights, as well as co-ordinating aerial eradication of drug crops.

The men were described as Pentagon contractors who were assisting the Colombian military on an unspecified anti-drug mission. They were equipped with “jungle- busting” radar to identify FARC units, sources quoted by Newsweek magazine said.

The pilot of the single- engine Cessna told air traffic controllers that his engine had failed and that he was trying to glide. “Somewhere during the flight the engine cut out and they were looking for a place to put down,” Chip Barclay, a State Department spokesman, said.

The pilot veered south, presumably to try to land in the provincial capital of Florencia. He never made it to the base, officials say, and had to land in an area full of guerrillas. Officials say that the aircraft was able to make a safe emergency landing. The pilot radioed his position and asked for a rescue team. But radio contact was lost soon afterwards.

The base commander at Larandia immediately ordered five Black Hawk helicopters to the area. But when they reached the site 30 minutes later they were surprised to find the burnt-out wreckage of the aircraft and the bodies of two of its occupants. Both appeared to have been shot at close range, one in the head and the other in the chest.

General Jorgé Enrique Mora, Colombia’s chief military commander, said that the five crew members were alive when the Cessna landed and that rebels had killed two of them “execution-style in an act of cruelty”.

US officials have not released the identity of the dead American, citing security grounds. The Colombian was identified as Sergeant Luís Cruz, of Army Intelligence.

Colombian officials said that soldiers had found footprints near the wreckage, but no sign of the other three Americans. They also reported an intercepted Farc radio transmission, in which a rebel commander was heard saying: “We have them! We have them!” Local farmers reported seeing the men being escorted away by Farc guerrillas.

War against drugs

• The US has about 500 civilian and military personnel in Colombia providing military training and civilian assistance
• About 70 US special forces personnel are based in the northern province of Arauca to train troops in counter-guerrilla techniques and to defend an oil pipeline
• Colombia is the third-highest recipient of US foreign aid, after Israel and Egypt. The US has pumped almost $2 billion (£1.2 billion) in mostly military aid into Colombia in the past three years in an effort to destroy the drugs industry
• The 18,000-strong Farc rebel group has never held hostage any American working for the US Government, but 46 US citizens have been kidnapped in Colombia since 1998
• The Farc holds several hundred hostages, including members of the Colombian police and military, as well as a former Defence Minister and a former presidential candidate

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