Rural Colombians Holding Hostage Dozens Of Soldiers

Bogotá: Rural Colombians thought to be acting at the behest of a guerrilla group have been holding about 60 soldiers hostage since the weekend, officials in the South American country said Monday.

The soldiers were taken on Saturday along with about 40 others who have since managed to get away, an army source told AFP.

The 60 men are being held by about 650 residents in rural south Colombia, mayor Willy Rodriguez, of the town nearby San Jose del Guaviare, told Caracol Radio.

The townspeople are thought to be under the influence of dissidents of the FARC guerrilla movement.

Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez has accused the Jorge Suarez Briceno rebel group as being behind what he described as a "kidnapping."

The group is in peace negotiations with the government, and agreed to a bilateral ceasefire in October last year.

Velasquez warned over the weekend that the hostage-taking put the truce at risk.

Despite a 2016 peace deal that led to the disarmament of the FARC, fighting between the security forces, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs has continued.

Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, has sought to end the six-decade internal conflict by negotiating with several armed groups since taking office in August 2022.

The toll of the conflict is estimated at 9.5 million people displaced, murdered, kidnapped or missing.

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