Colombian villagers release more than 60 soldiers who had been held captive for 3 days

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s defense ministry on Monday said 66 soldiers who had been “kidnapped” by villagers in the south of the country were released unharmed and will continue to carry out operations against rebel groups in the province of Guaviare.

Colombia’s army has long struggled to defeat rebel groups in the Guaviare area, which has been heavily affected by deforestation and cocaine trafficking. The rebels sometimes exert control over remote settlements in the area.

In a message posted on the social platform X, the defense ministry said the soldiers had been held since Friday by large numbers of villagers who were following orders from a local rebel group, known as the Jorge Suarez Briceño front.

On Sunday, Colombia’s defense minister had threatened to break off a ceasefire with the Briceño front if the soldiers were not released.

The province’s governor, Yeison Roja, told Colombia’s Caracol TV network that while some of the villagers who detained the soldiers could have been influenced by the rebel group, others were attempting to protest the army’s presence because they don’t want more fighting in the area.

Colombia is currently holding peace negotiations with several armed groups that refused to join a 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, in which more than 14,000 fighters laid down their arms.

The Briceño Front, is part of the FARC-EMC, a group of around 4,400 fighters that split recently, with around 40% of its fighters continuing negotiations with the government, while the rest walked away from peace talks and are now fighting the army in rural parts of Colombia.

In a statement published on Saturday, Colombia’s army said the soldiers who had been detained were headed to two villages where business owners had complained they were being extorted by the Briceño front.

Manuel Rueda, The Associated Press