By Jeremy McDermott BBC correspondent in Medellin

It appears to be the Colombian rebels' response to the government's promise to protect citizens over Holy Week.

Easter events are being marked across this strongly Catholic nation

The people of Dolores in Tolima province were marching through the town in a religious procession marking the stations of the cross when shots were fired and pandemonium ensued.

Suspected FARC rebels opened fire on members of the security forces who were accompanying the procession.

But of the three people killed, one was a 14-year-old boy, and one of the wounded was also a child.

The armed forces had told Colombians they would guarantee security over Holy Week, and armed convoys are escorting motorists along strategic highways in this battered Andean nation.

But the guerrillas saw government assurances as a challenge and have broken the tranquillity of the festival in this deeply Roman Catholic nation.

The Marxist guerrillas are no friends of religion and, according to government statistics, have been responsible for the murders of almost 40 priests and pastors over the last four years.