The Colombian government says 34 soldiers were kidnapped in southeastern Guaviare after clashes with dissident fighters from the former FARC rebel movement.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said the soldiers were taken while evacuating the area after a military operation on Sunday that killed 11 rebels, including a commander from the Central General Staff, or EMC. He described the seizure as a criminal act carried out by people in civilian clothing and said the government regards it as a kidnapping.
The episode took place in rural parts of El Retorno municipality, in a jungle corridor that the military has long linked to drug trafficking and coca cultivation. The area has become one of the country’s most sensitive security zones because armed groups still compete for routes, territory and control over local communities despite Colombia’s 2016 peace deal with the main FARC force.
According to the account cited by Al Jazeera, the soldiers were taken as they withdrew after the raid. The army says civilians in the region receive orders from the EMC, which is one of the largest remaining FARC dissident factions. That accusation has become a recurring feature of Colombia’s conflict reporting: civilians are often described as being caught between the state and armed groups, while officials argue that coercion and armed pressure blur the line between non-combatant protest and organised captivity.
The abduction also echoes an earlier case in June, when the army said 57 soldiers were seized by civilians in a southwestern mountainous area. The repetition matters because it suggests the state has not restored full control even in places where it has repeatedly mounted operations.
The Guaviare clash came after a week of broader violence in Colombia. The evidence packet says at least 18 people were killed and dozens wounded in two attacks blamed on dissident FARC factions, including a vehicle bombing in Cali and a drone attack on a police helicopter in Antioquia. Those incidents underline the wider security challenge facing President Gustavo Petro, who was elected promising “total peace” but now faces stalled talks with several armed groups.
The government has blamed the Gulf Clan and other armed organisations for a campaign of revenge attacks against police and soldiers after recent arrests and killings of group leaders. In that context, the Guaviare seizure is part of a wider pattern: state offensives provoke armed retaliation, while the lines between insurgency, criminality and local coercion remain deeply blurred.
The government has not publicly said how it intends to secure the soldiers’ release, and the packet does not include a confirmed timetable or mediation effort. What is clear is that the kidnapping adds fresh pressure to a security strategy already under strain in several regions. For communities in Guaviare and similar frontier zones, the event is another reminder that armed groups still shape daily life long after the formal peace accord that was meant to end Colombia’s old war.
