Bogota, Colombia (AP) – September 8: In a dramatic turn of events, the Colombian army reported on Sunday that 45 soldiers were surrounded and kidnapped by hundreds of people while carrying out programs to replace illicit crops in southwest Colombia. This incident unfolded in the Micay Canyon, situated in the Cauca department, an area notorious for coca leaf cultivation and currently under the influence of a rebel faction that parted ways with the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. This group has been actively targeting military positions.
The army's statement revealed that the soldiers were effectively "kidnapped" after being encircled by an estimated 600 individuals who blocked their deployment in the area.
This marks the second occurrence of soldiers being seized in less than a month.
In a separate incident in August, 33 soldiers were similarly captured, allegedly by villagers under the influence of a rebel group in the southern department of Guaviare. This followed a gunfight that resulted in the deaths of 10 members of a FARC holdout faction. At that time, the army reported that villagers detaining the soldiers demanded the return of a slain rebel's body, which had been transferred to a morgue in the provincial capital. The soldiers were subsequently released after a four-day standoff.
Colombia continues to grapple with maintaining security in certain rural regions where drug cartels and rebel factions vie for control over territories vacated by FARC, a guerilla group that reached a peace agreement with the government in 2016.
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