BOGOTA -- Colombia says at least nine soldiers have been killed and four wounded in combat with leftist rebels in a mountainous western region.

Col. Luis Danilo Murcia commands the army brigade involved. He says the soldiers came under mortar attack by about 100 rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, while patrolling Monday night.

Murcia said Tuesday that the wounded were being treated in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city.

The Defense Ministry says 389 soldiers and police have been killed in rebel-related violence through Oct. 18, up from 344 in the same period last year.

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