Colombia says villagers taking orders from rebel groups kidnapped 34 soldiers

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government said Tuesday that 34 of its soldiers fighting rebels in the south have been “kidnapped” by villagers acting under the orders of a rebel group.

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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