14 Soldiers, 14 Rebels Reported Killed in El Salvador Clash
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SAN SALVADOR — The bloodiest battle of the new year left 28 dead, the army said Wednesday, and leftist rebels said President Bush had made a “political mistake” in restoring $42.5 million in aid to El Salvador’s military.
The army said 14 soldiers and 14 guerrillas were killed Tuesday evening in combat outside Apastepeque, 25 miles east of the capital. Six soldiers were wounded, a release said.
The leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, in its report on a clandestine radio station, said rebels “annihilated” a company of 5th Army Brigade soldiers. It provided no casualty figures.
Bush on Tuesday decided to free the military aid for delivery in March because the rebels have shown intransigence in U.N.-mediated peace talks, have killed and wounded civilians in recent attacks and have received sophisticated arms from allies in the Nicaraguan armed forces.
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