BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia's army says eight soldiers have been killed in a minefield in the country's remote southwest. It blames leftist rebels.

An army spokeswoman said the troops belonged to a 30-man foot patrol and died in Nariño province, where guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are active. The province is an area of major coca cultivation.

The spokeswoman said they were killed early Wednesday in the municipality of Barbacoas.

Anti-personnel mines are now responsible for about half the military deaths in Colombia's conflict. Mines have killed 70 soldiers and 23 civilians this year through the end of August.

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