Colombia rescues 27 soldiers, dozens remain captive
by AFP Staff Writers
Bogota (AFP) Sept 8, 2025

Colombian authorities rescued 27 of 72 soldiers held captive Sunday in the country's southwest, an area controlled by guerrillas and plagued by drug cultivation, military officials said.

Colombian soldiers and police officers are often detained in areas controlled by armed groups.

The 72 soldiers had been detained in guerrilla-controlled Cauca region "in the afternoon," a military source told AFP, without giving further details.

The army later reported the "extraction" of 27 soldiers but said 45 "remain deprived of their liberty under the guerrilla regime."

"The National Army maintains a presence in the area, taking steps to restore order and ensure the return of the kidnapped personnel," it said in a statement.

The soldiers had been participating in a military operation when around 600 people "obstructed the deployment of troops" in San Juan de Micay, the army said, adding that the move was "intended to facilitate control of routes used for drug trafficking and illegal mining."

The Micay area is a coca-growing hotspot in southwest Colombia controlled by a renegade faction of the defunct FARC guerrilla army known as the Central General Staff.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro launched an offensive in 2024 to regain control of the area but has encountered strong local resistance.

"Let the soldiers go free, they can be your children. The children of Colombia must embrace and outlive their parents," Petro said on X Sunday, adding that a dialogue commission was ready to negotiate.

"The peasantry of Micay knows it's time to begin the peaceful substitution of (illicit) crops. This is the opportunity," Petro said.

According to the government, such detentions are often carried out by locals acting on the orders of armed groups in areas where there is little state presence.

In June, 57 soldiers were detained in the same region before being released days later following military intervention.

In late August, 33 soldiers were held captive for three days in a southeastern Amazonian community home to leftist guerrillas.

Colombia has been enduring rising violence from dissident groups who rejected a 2016 peace agreement with FARC after a six-decade insurgency.

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