Colombian military officials say at least 38 soldiers and leftist rebels have died in the heaviest fighting between the two sides since the country's peace process collapsed last month. 

Authorities say clashes between the army and Colombia's largest and most powerful Marxist insurgency began Wednesday in northern Colombia near the Venezuelan border, in a lawless jungle region where drug traffickers produce the illegal drug cocaine. As of late Thursday, the army said 17 soldiers and 21 rebels had been killed. 

Colombian Army General Martin Orlando Carreno says about 100 rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have taken refuge in Venezuela, preventing any counter-attack by government forces. 

The general says the rebels have been staging raids on Colombian territory, then retreating across the border into Venezuela. The leftists reportedly also have launched cross-border shelling attacks on Colombian troops. Despite complaints by Colombia's foreign ministry, Venezuela denies it is harboring any rebels. 

The United States has put FARC on its list of foreign terrorist organizations. 

Meanwhile, officials said Friday that FARC remains in control, for a third day, of a reservoir in southern Colombia. The rebels have cut off water to about 400,000 residents of Pasto. 

FARC has stepped up attacks on civilian targets such as telecommunication systems and power stations in recent weeks, following President Andres Pastrana's decision last month to end three years of unsuccessful peace negotiations with the guerrillas. 

Colombia has suffered through nearly four decades of civil war involving government troops, leftist rebels and right paramilitary forces - a conflict that is estimated to have cost the country 200,000 lives. 

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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