At least 19 dead in Venezuela army attack on Colombian rebel camp - EWN

At least 19 people were killed in the Venezuelan army's recent attack on a Colombian guerrilla group's camp inside Venezuela, an NGO and source close to the operation said Sunday.

The FundaRedes NGO -- which monitors rights violations in Venezuela's border states -- initially reported nine deaths in the attack early Friday morning in the western state of Apure.

Juan Francisco Garcia, a coordinator with the group, told AFP on Sunday that "another 10 bodies" had been transported to the state capital San Fernando the day after the attack.

The attack targeted a camp of the National Liberation Army, a Colombian guerrilla group known by its Spanish initials, ELN.

Video shared by FundaRedes showed bodies lying on the ground, trees knocked down and the ruins of what appeared to be a camp site.

A Venezuelan military source close to the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attack had been supported by US intelligence. "We had help from the CIA and the FBI. This was an order from the United States," the source said. Requests for comment from the US State Department and Venezuelan government were not immediately answered.