At least 57 soldiers have been kidnapped by civilians in the Micai Canyon area of southwestern Colombia, the BBC reported on Monday, citing the country’s military.
The army said in a statement that 31 soldiers were kidnapped on Saturday and the rest on Sunday. The number of kidnappers was more than 200.
The army says that although this was done by civilians, they did so mainly under pressure from dissident members of the former rebel group FARC, which signed a peace agreement in 2016.
In a video message posted on social media, Brigadier General Federico Alberto Mejia said that the kidnapped included four non-commissioned officers and 53 ordinary soldiers. He said, “It’s called kidnapping.”
The report, citing local media, said that the EMC, the largest branch of the FARC, is believed to have ordered the kidnapping. However, the EMC has not yet commented on the matter.
According to the BBC, the mountainous region is a center for cocaine production and is one of the centers of ongoing tensions with Colombian rebels. The Micai Canyon region is used to smuggle cocaine to Pacific ports, from where the drug is illegally shipped to various countries.
Source: BBC.