CARACAS A Venezuelan military helicopter crashed while patrolling the border with Colombia Sunday, killing at least 18 people, President Hugo Chavez said.

Those killed included General Domingo Faneite, 16 soldiers of varying ranks and a civilian, Chavez said in his weekly radio and television program.

'I pay tribute to these soldiers of the homeland, especially general Faneite, who was my cadet,' said Chavez, a retired army lieutenant colonel.

The Russian-made MI 35, which lost contact with its base around 1640 GMT, went down near the town of El Alto de Rubio, in Tachira state, state news agency ABN said.

Tensions between neighbors Colombia and Venezuela soared a year ago after Colombia bombed a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel base inside Ecuador, a Venezuela ally. Both countries reinforced their border areas with troops but stopped short of military action.

Colombia's largest guerrilla group with an estimated 7,000 fighters, FARC continues to hold some 22 Colombian police and soldiers it wants to exchange for imprisoned colleagues.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, at a public event in his country's north, said Bogota was pained by Venezuela's loss.

'We have just learned that 18 members of the Venezuelan Armed Forces died in a crash. We are deeply saddened. Our soldiers, and Venezuelan soldiers, are brothers, just as our countries are,' Uribe said.