Last Colombian soldiers released from rural village where they were held

Hundreds of radical blocked soldiers connected a drug-trafficking patrol from leaving a colony successful agrarian southwestern Colombia.

A radical of 45 Colombian soldiers person been retrieved from a colony controlled by rebel fighters successful the country’s agrarian southwest, wherever authorities accidental they were blocked from leaving by a radical of astir 600 civilians.

The Colombian subject said connected Monday that the past remaining soldiers had been retrieved “without incident” and returned “safe and sound” from El Tambo, located successful a portion known for coca accumulation and different illicit activity.

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“All subject unit successful the hands of civilians person been released,” President Gustavo Petro said successful a societal media post. “The colonisation successful regions of coca leafage and illicit golden [mining] indispensable halt obeying orders from the mafias.”

The authorities has blamed such incidents, 5 of which person occurred this year, connected splinter groups that spurned a 2016 bid woody betwixt the authorities and the FARC, a left-wing rebel group.

Colombian authorities allege that specified armed groups unit civilian populations successful coca-producing regions into blocking patrols of soldiers successful place. Such incidents are not uncommon and mostly effect successful soldiers being released unharmed, sometimes pursuing mediation by quality rights groups.

After the 2016 bid woody with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), assorted splinter groups, cause trafficking, and transgression organisations rushed successful to instrumentality power of areas antecedently controlled by the left-wing group.

A six-decade civil conflict that resulted successful the decease of 450,000 radical whitethorn besides lend to hostility towards the service successful immoderate parts of the country. A 2022 information committee study stated that the government, on with right-wing paramilitaries, were liable for the bulk of civilians killed successful the conflict, though each forces progressive participated successful abuses specified arsenic kidnapping and disappearances.

While the Petro authorities has sought to scope agreements with remaining equipped groups, authorities person struggled to code continued violence and instability that person disrupted beingness for civilians successful regions wherever they stay active.

Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said successful a societal media station that those liable for the sequestration of the soldiers, who were patrolling the Micay Canyon country connected an anti-narcotics mission, volition look prosecution.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies