BOGOTA, Dec. 23 -- The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was actively involved in operations to eliminate top commanders of Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), former Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said Monday.

Silva, who served as Colombian defense minister from Aug. 2009 to Aug. 2010, said in comments to Colombia's Caracol Radio news agency that for security reasons, he could not provide details of U.S. cooperation in the military operations.

However, he said that Colombia's armed forces only received CIA assistance in the form of intelligence, and otherwise acted independently.

"Colombia manages its armed forces in a sovereign manner. All operations were designed jointly, but executed by Colombia," the former minister said.

"What I can say is that (the CIA's help) was vitally important, not only to take down terrorist leaders, but also to recover and rescue many hostages from the jungle," Silva added.

The former DM's reactions came a day after the Washington Post newspaper revealed that the CIA participated in several anti-rebel operations that killed several of the FARC's top commanders, such as Raul Reyes, Alfonso Cano and "Mono Jojoy," as part of a secret program.

The FARC is the largest rebel group in Colombia which has been now in peace talks with the government in Havana, Cuba since November 2012.