Colombia orders 21 soldiers arrested for civilian murders

Colombian prosecutors have ordered the arrest of 21 soldiers for their role in the murders of three civilians who were falsely reported to have been killed in combat, the government said Thursday.

The arrest orders involved five non-commissioned officers and 16 soldiers accused of "aggravated homicide and aggravated forced disappearance" of the civilians in northwestern Antioquia province in 2006.

Soldiers are accused of luring two men -- Yamire Verbel and Jorge Eliecer Barbosa -- to a rural area in the municipality of Dabeiba with promises of work, and then killing them on May 10, 2006.

Six months later, another civilian identified as Yoner Jose Lopez was murdered near Dabeiba and reported killed in combat by the military.

Prosecutors said the soldiers ordered arrested were involved in that murder as well.

The Colombian attorney general's office is prosecuting large numbers of soldiers in cases involving civilians who were falsely reported killed in combat by soldiers seeking medals, time off or praise from their superiors.