Top Colombia rebel leader 'killed'

The top leader of Colombia's main leftist rebel group has been killed in a military raid, officials said.

Alfonso Cano was killed in Cauca state during an air and ground assault by Colombia's military, the officials claimed.

A five million US dollar (£3.1 million) reward had been out for Cano, who was the commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

"The fingerprints matched," said one senior security official, adding that Cano was killed in "a standard military operation" in Cauca state.

Cano, 53, had been the top target of Colombian authorities since September 2010, when they killed the insurgency's military chief, Mono Jojoy, also in a bombing raid.

The reward had been out for Cano, a Bogota intellectual who took command of Latin America's last remaining rebel army after the 2008 death of its co-founder, Manuel Marulanda.

The governor of Cauca state, Alberto Gonzalez, confirmed the death. His state has in recent months been a location of increased Farc violence.

Cano's body is being taken to Popayan, the Cauca state capital.