Colombia: Army rescues 27 of the 72 soldiers held in guerrilla zone

Colombian authorities rescued 27 of the 72 military personnel who were held on Sunday in the southwest of the country, in an area controlled by guerrillas and plagued by drug crops.

Military and police detentions are common in Colombia in areas controlled by armed groups and with little state presence. Sunday's detention occurred in the Cauca department "in the afternoon hours," a military source told AFP, without specifying the circumstances.

The Army later reported the "extraction" of 27 soldiers, while the remaining 45 "remain deprived of their liberty under the modality of kidnapping."

The Army remains in the area to ensure the return of the kidnapped

"The National Army maintains presence in the area, advances efforts to reestablish order and ensure the return of the kidnapped personnel," the institution added in a statement.

The authorities have denounced that these detentions include residents, mostly farmers, who act manipulated or forced by the illegal organizations.

This Sunday's detention occurred in the middle of a military operation in Cañón del Micay, an enclave for cocaine production and where criminal gangs and dissidents of the former FARC guerrillas led by Iván Mordisco operate.

Petro calls for release of soldiers: "They could be your children"

"Let the soldiers free, they could be your children. The children of Colombia must embrace and outlive their parents," leftist President Gustavo Petro stated on X. He added that a dialogue commission is ready to negotiate.

Recovery of Micay crops

The retained military personnel were participating in Operation Perseo II when some 600 people "obstructed the deployment of troops" in San Juan de Micay, the Army said.

"This action would have been aimed at favoring the control of routes used for drug trafficking and illegal mining," it added, indicating that those responsible were allegedly in cahoots with a criminal organization.

Petro launched an offensive in 2024 to regain control of that area, but has encountered strong resistance from the locals.

"The peasantry of Micay knows that it is time to begin the substitution of (illicit) crops in a peaceful manner. This is the opportunity," Petro wrote on X addressing the villagers who held the soldiers captive.

Collaboration requested to identify those responsible

The Army, for its part, asked the inhabitants of the area to "provide information leading to the identification" of those responsible.

In the same sector in June, 57 soldiers were detained. A military intervention led to their release a few days later.

At the end of August, another 33 soldiers were released after being held for three days in the  Guaviare department. Government delegations, the Ombudsman's Office and the UN mediated for the release of the soldiers.

Immersed in a half-century-long internal war that faces guerrillas, drug traffickers and state forces, Colombia is experiencing its worst security crisis in the last decade.

In the southwest of the nation there are increasingly frequent attacks with explosives and armed ambushes with fatalities among uniformed personnel and civilians.