VIDEO: Colombian Army Unearths Rebel Hide-Outs

The army said troops had been searching for the cave hide-outs for five years in their hunt for a top FARC commander, Jorge Briceno.

Colombian soldiers have unearthed guerrilla hide-outs in caves deep in the jungles where rebels evaded attacks, stashed landmines and stored medical supplies, authorities said on Saturday.

Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC by its Spanish initials, has been battered by President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed offensive, which has driven guerrillas deep into jungles and mountains.

The army said troops had been searching for the cave hide-outs for five years in their hunt for a top FARC commander, Jorge Briceno, better known as Mono Jojoy, one of the guerrilla group's leadership secretariat.

"They used to feel safe ... now they are living in caves they use to hide away," said Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, showing a group of reporters the caves in La Macarena region in Meta province, to the southeast of Bogota.

Troops were led to the caves after a tip-off from a FARC deserter. Reporters at the site were shown weapons, landmines, surgical equipment and explosives discovered in camps surrounding the caves.

The FARC, labeled terrorists by the United States and Europe, once controlled swaths of Colombia as it what it says was a fight for a socialist state. Latin America's oldest rebel insurgency, the FARC has funded its war with drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.

But violence and kidnappings have declined since Uribe sent troops out to retake the parts of the country. Fighting goes on in remote areas, especially around cocaine trafficking routes. The FARC lost three top commanders last year and has suffered a string of military setbacks.

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