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Cocaine plantations targeted/ Cartels and rebel groups kidnap 45 Colombian soldiers

2025-09-08 16:56:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Cocaine plantations targeted/ Cartels and rebel groups kidnap 45 Colombian

Hundreds of people surrounded and kidnapped 45 soldiers working to implement programs to replace illegal crops in southwestern Colombia, in an area of ??influence of a rebel group, the Colombian army said on Sunday.

The military said in a press release that the kidnapping took place on Sunday in the Micay Canyon, in the Cauca department, an area known for growing coca leaves, the cocaine plant, and a current stronghold of a rebel faction that broke away from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The group has attacked military positions.

The army said the 45 soldiers were "kidnapped" after being surrounded by around 600 people who prevented them from deploying to the area.

This is the second time soldiers have been taken hostage in less than a month.

In August, 33 soldiers were also kidnapped, reportedly by villagers acting under orders from a rebel group in the southern department of Guaviare, after a shootout that killed 10 members of a FARC support group.

The army said at the time that the villagers holding the soldiers captive were demanding the return of the body of a slain rebel, which was being transported to a morgue in the provincial capital. The soldiers were released after four days.

Colombia has struggled to maintain security in some rural areas, where drug gangs and rebel groups are fighting for territory abandoned by the FARC, the guerrilla group that made peace with the government in 2016./ CNA





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