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Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said the military would “deploy
all of its capabilities” to secure the release of the soldiers
held in Guaviare province, and offered a $5,000 reward for
information leading to the rebel commanders who planned the
incident.
“This is an illegal action,” Sánchez told a news conference.
“These people are interrupting a military operation against the
principal threat in the region.”
Sánchez said that the soldiers have been held near the village
of El Retorno since Sunday, following a gunfight that killed 10
members of a FARC holdout group. He added that the villagers
holding the soldiers captive are demanding the return of a slain
rebel’s body, which was transported to a morgue in the
provincial capital.
Colombia has struggled to maintain security in some rural areas,
where drug gangs and rebel groups are fighting over territory
abandoned by the FARC, the guerilla group that made peace with
the government in 2016.
In some remote areas, government troops are sometimes surrounded
and held captive by armed or unarmed villagers for days until
their release is negotiated with government agencies.
In the past, the government has blamed rebel leaders for these
situations, saying that they are pressuring civilians to act
against Colombian troops.
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