Around 60 Colombian soldiers have been held hostage since the weekend by farmers reportedly influenced by a dissident faction of a former guerrilla group, local authorities announced on Monday.
The soldiers are being held hostage by around 650 farmers in the rural area of San José del Guaviare, located in the southern department of Guaviare, the town's mayor, Willy Rodriguez, told Caracol Radio.
Initially, 100 soldiers were taken hostage, but 40 regained their freedom after a few hours, an army source told French news agency AFP.
Over the weekend, Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez described the incident as a "kidnapping" and attributed responsibility for it to a dissident front of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.
The group, known as the Jorge Suarez Briceño Front, did not accept a peace agreement signed in 2016 by the Farc Marxist guerrillas. It later entered into negotiations with the government of President Gustavo Petro and agreed to a bilateral ceasefire in October 2023. Defence Minister Velasquez warned that that truce could be lifted "if there is no real compromise on the part of this illegal group."
In conflict zones such as the department of Guaviare, the armed forces often clash with farmers, particularly during operations to eradicate coca crops, the leaves of which are used to produce cocaine.
In April, 34 soldiers were captured and released in the neighbouring department of Meta.
Colombia has been plagued for about six decades by armed conflict, which has claimed some 9.5 million victims, including dead, missing, displaced and kidnapped persons.
