BOGOTÁ, Colombia (BN24) — At least 34 Colombian soldiers have been kidnapped in the southeastern jungle province of Guaviare following deadly clashes with dissident members of the former FARC rebel group, the country’s defence minister said Tuesday.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed that the soldiers were abducted on Sunday in the rural municipality of El Retorno during an evacuation operation. The mission followed a military offensive that left 11 rebels dead, including a commander of the Central General Staff, or EMC — the main dissident faction of the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
“This is an illegal, criminal action by people in civilian clothing,” Sanchez told reporters. “This is a kidnapping.”
The EMC group, composed of former FARC fighters who rejected the landmark 2016 peace agreement, continues to operate in remote regions and plays a central role in Colombia’s ongoing armed conflict. The Guaviare jungle, where the incident occurred, is a key corridor for cocaine trafficking and home to extensive coca cultivation.
Sunday’s abduction mirrors a similar incident in June, when 57 soldiers were detained by civilians in a mountainous area of southwestern Colombia — another region notorious for drug production and frequent clashes between security forces and illegal armed groups.
The Colombian army maintains that civilians involved in such abductions often operate under the influence or direction of the EMC. Armed groups across the country are believed to fund themselves through narcotrafficking, illegal mining, extortion, and other criminal activity.
Despite the 2016 peace deal, which officially ended FARC’s insurgency after more than 50 years of war, violence persists in many rural areas. More than 450,000 people have died during the decades-long conflict, according to official figures.
Last week, a series of deadly attacks attributed to FARC dissidents left at least 18 people dead and dozens injured.
In Cali, a car bomb exploded Thursday outside a military aviation school, killing six and wounding 71, local authorities said. Just hours earlier, 12 police officers were killed when a National Police Black Hawk helicopter involved in a coca eradication operation was downed by a drone in Amalfi, Antioquia.
President Gustavo Petro has blamed the wave of violence on dissident factions of the FARC, which remain a destabilizing force across several regions of the country.
A response from the government or a rescue operation has not yet been detailed.
Credit: BBC
