Report: Venezuelan army collaborated with Colombian rebels

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A report says Venezuelan soldiers conducted joint operations with Colombian rebels in the state of Apure earlier this year. The report from Human Rights Watch was released as violence increased along a remote and often lawless stretch of the Colombia-Venezuela border where several armed groups are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes. The report published on Monday by Human Rights Watch says that in January a truce ended between the National Liberation Army and another rebel organization known as the Joint Eastern Command, leading to clashes, abductions and assassinations of civilians that forced more than 3,300 people to flee their homes in the Venezuelan state of Apure, while in the Colombian province of Arauca, more than 3,800 people were displaced.