Dozens of Colombian soldiers released after three-day captivity in Amazon

Thirty-three Colombian soldiers have been released after being held captive for three days in a remote Amazonian village dominated by armed rebel factions and drug crops, the country’s Ombudsman’s Office said.

“At this moment, soldiers are withdrawing from the village Nueva York,” said Iris Marin, the head of the Ombudsman’s Office, in a post on X on Thursday, as troops were escorted out of the rural community in Guaviare province.

The soldiers had been detained on Monday after clashes with an armed group killed at least 10 people.

Villagers then blocked roads, preventing the soldiers from leaving, in what the government of President Gustavo Petro described as a kidnapping. “We urge people not to stigmatise the community,” Marin added.

Officials from the government, the Ombudsman’s Office, and the United Nations led negotiations that secured the soldiers’ release. Authorities initially reported 34 troops were detained but later revised the figure to 33.

Mass detentions of security forces have become a recurring tactic in Colombia’s southern regions, where the state has a limited presence, and armed groups often hold sway in communities.

The army has filed a formal complaint with the attorney general’s office over the incident. Military commander Admiral Francisco Cubides said reinforcements had been deployed “to prevent any attacks in this hostile environment” and claimed locals were “being manipulated” by rebel factions.

The dissident group involved is led by Ivaan Mordisco, a former commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who rejected a 2016 peace agreement that sought to end the country’s six-decade armed conflict, which has killed more than 450,000 people.

Last week, fighters loyal to Mordisco detonated a truck bomb in the southwestern city of Cali, killing six people and injuring more than 60.

Authorities accuse his group of recruiting children and using intimidation to undermine state security forces.

The Amazonian corridor where the soldiers were detained is a hub for drug trafficking, with extensive coca plantations, the main ingredient used to produce cocaine.

Petro launched a peace initiative in 2022 aimed at reducing violence, but rights groups say the plan has yet to deliver results.