BOGOTA, Sept 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 72 soldiers were detained Sunday in the guerrilla-controlled Cauca department of southwestern Colombia, an epicenter of world coca production, military officials said.
The detention took place “in the afternoon,” a military source said, without giving further details.
Colombian soldiers and police officers are commonly detained in areas controlled by armed groups.
In late August, 33 soldiers were held captive for three days in a southeastern Amazonian community home to leftist guerrillas.
Colombia media said the latest hostage-taking took place during military operations in Micay canyon, a coca-growing hotspot in southwest Colombia controlled by a renegade faction of the defunct FARC guerrilla army known as the Central General Staff.
According to the government, such detentions are often carried out by local people acting on the orders of armed groups in areas where there is little state presence.
Colombia has been enduring rising violence from dissident groups who rejected a 2016 peace agreement with FARC after a six-decade insurgency. — NNN-AGENCIES
