On Thursday, 33 Colombian soldiers were released after being held for three days in a southeastern Amazonian village known for drug crops and dissident guerrillas, reported the country’s Ombudsman’s office.
The soldiers had intense clashes with guerrillas on Monday, after which local villagers blocked roads to prevent their departure, an action that the leftist government of Gustavo Petro labeled as kidnapping.
“Currently, soldiers are leaving the village Nueva York in Guaviare province,” stated Iris Marin, head of the Ombudsman’s office, on X.
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“We urge avoiding stigmatization of the community,” Marin added.
Government representatives, the Ombudsman’s office, and the United Nations facilitated the soldiers’ release.
Initially, authorities reported 34 soldiers detained, but the figure was later adjusted to 33.
Mass troop detentions have become common in southern Colombia.
The government notes that these detentions are often executed by locals manipulated by armed groups in areas where state presence is minimal.
Clashes between soldiers and rebels led by warlord Ivan Mordisco began on Sunday, resulting in 10 deaths.
The defense ministry announced on social media that a complaint about the kidnapping was filed with the public prosecutor’s office.
The army deployed “more troops to thwart any attacks in this hostile environment,” where locals “are being manipulated” by rebels, stated military commander Admiral Francisco Cubides.
Colombia faces increasing violence from dissident groups who rejected the 2016 peace deal with the main Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after a six-decade insurgency.
Last week, another group under Mordisco’s command set off a truck bomb, killing six and injuring more than 60 in the southwestern city of Cali.
