Hundreds kidnap 45 soldiers in a rebel-influenced area of Colombia, army says

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Hundreds of people surrounded and kidnapped 45 soldiers working to implement programs to replace illicit crops in the southwest of Colombia, in an area of influence of a rebel group, the Colombian army said Sunday.

The army said in a press release that the incident happened Sunday in the Micay Canyon, in the Cauca department, an area known for coca leaf crops and a current bastion of a rebel faction that broke away from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. That group has been attacking military positions.

The army said the 45 soldiers were “kidnapped,” after being surrounded by around 600 people who prevented them to be deployed in the area.

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

In August, 33 soldiers were also taken, allegedly by villagers acting under the orders of a rebel group in the southern department of Guaviare following a gunfight that killed 10 members of a FARC holdout group.

The army said back then that the villagers holding the soldiers captive were demanding the return of a slain rebel’s body, which was 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 over territory abandoned by the FARC, the guerilla group that made peace with the government in 2016.