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Al Jazeera
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Colombia's army says 57 soldiers kidnapped in restive southwest
The Colombian army says more than 50 soldiers have been seized by civilians in a southwest mountainous area. A platoon of soldiers was the first to be seized on Saturday during an operation in El Tambo, a municipality that is part of an area known as the Micay Canyon, a key zone for cocaine production and one of the most tense in the country's ongoing security crisis. On Sunday, another group of soldiers was surrounded by at least 200 residents as they headed towards the town of El Plateado, in the same region. 'As a result of both events [both kidnappings], a total of four noncommissioned officers and 53 professional soldiers remain deprived of their liberty,' the army said on Sunday. General Federico Alberto Mejia, who leads military operations in the southwest, added in a video that it was a 'kidnapping' by rebels who had 'infiltrated' the community. The Colombian army has maintained that the civilians in the region receive orders from the Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that refused to be part of a peace deal with the government in 2016. President Gustavo Petro, who has pledged to bring peace to the country, said on social media that freeing the soldiers 'is imperative'. The left-wing leader has been trying for months to ensure that the country's armed forces gain access to Micay Canyon. But his government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the FARC after the peace deal. This has made many Colombians fearful of a return to the bloody violence of the 1980s and 90s, when cartel attacks and political assassinations were frequent. Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on Indigenous communities.
Arab News
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
More than 50 Colombian soldiers held by residents in restive region: army
BOGOTA: More than 50 Colombian soldiers were being held captive Sunday by residents of a guerrilla-controlled region in the southwest of the country, the army said. A first platoon of soldiers was carrying out an operation in El Tambo, a municipality part of an area known as the Micay Canyon — a cocaine-producing enclave — when civilians detained them on Saturday. On Sunday another group of soldiers was surrounded by at least 200 residents as they headed toward El Plateado, another town in the region. 'As a result of both events, a total of four non-commissioned officers and 53 professional soldiers remain deprived of their liberty,' the army said. In conflict-ridden regions of Colombia, some illegal groups at times order civilians to carry out actions to impede the advance of security forces. They are usually released hours later after the intervention of human rights organizations. General Federico Alberto Mejia said in a video that it was a 'kidnapping' by guerrillas who had 'infiltrated' the community. The army has maintained that the farmers receive orders from the so-called Central General Staff (EMC), the main FARC dissident group that did not sign the 2016 peace agreement with the then government. President Gustavo Petro on Sunday urged farmers to 'stop believing in armed groups who obey foreigners,' referring to the guerrillas' alleged ties to Mexican cartels. 'We want to spread peace, but freeing the soldiers, who are their own children, is imperative,' the leftist president wrote on social media platform X. Petro has been trying for months to ensure that the Armed Forces gain access to the entire Micay Canyon. In March, 28 police officers and a soldier were held captive by local residents in the same area. All were released two days later. Colombia is experiencing its worst security crisis in the last decade. Petro attempted to negotiate peace with the EMC, but its main leader, known as 'Ivan Mordisco,' abandoned the talks.
