Four Siblings 'Slaughtered' in Colombia Attack

Armed men shot dead four siblings aged between seven and 17 in their Colombian home, police said Thursday, with the president lamenting they had been "slaughtered."

All four suffered fatal bullet wounds to the head but a fifth child survived Wednesday night's raid in a rural area of the department of Caqueta, in the southwest, said police, who have launched a manhunt to track down those responsible.

"We condemn the slaughter of 4 minors in Caqueta, police have been ordered to find those responsible for this crime," President Juan Manuel Santos wrote on Twitter.

The child victims were aged seven, 11, 14 and 17 and were alone in the house at the time of the attack, police said in a statement.

Fifty million pesos ($21,000) has been offered for information about the two gunmen but media reports said the police are looking into the possibility the attack was in revenge for business related to the father.