More than 50 Colombian soldiers were abducted by civilians over the weekend in a volatile, guerrilla-influenced region of southwest Colombia, according to a statement from the Colombian Army on Sunday, June 22.
The soldiers were seized during military operations in the Micay Canyon, a key cocaine-producing region spanning parts of the Cauca Department, long dominated by illegal armed groups.
The first incident occurred on Saturday, June 21, when a platoon of soldiers conducted operations in El Tambo, a municipality within the Micay Canyon.
During the mission, civilians intercepted and detained them. A second incident unfolded the following day in El Plateado, another town in the same region, where at least 200 residents surrounded a group of soldiers and also held them captive.
“As a result of both events, a total of four non-commissioned officers and 53 professional soldiers remain deprived of their liberty,” the Colombian Army confirmed in a public statement on Sunday.
General Federico Alberto Mejía, the commander of military operations in the southwest, described the incidents as a “kidnapping” and said the actions were carried out by guerrillas who had infiltrated the community.
He blamed the Central General Staff (EMC), the largest FARC dissident faction that rejected Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement, for orchestrating the abductions through local proxies.
“These are not spontaneous actions by farmers,” Mejía said in a video address. “This is a kidnapping ordered by the EMC, using the civilian population as a shield.”
President Gustavo Petro, in a statement posted on the social media platform X, urged the local population to reject the influence of armed groups. “We want to spread peace, but freeing the soldiers, who are their own children, is imperative,” Petro wrote on Sunday, June 22.
He further warned residents to “stop believing in armed groups who obey foreigners”, referencing alleged links between the EMC and Mexican drug cartels.
The Micay Canyon has become one of the most militarized and contested zones in Colombia, with guerrilla groups fighting to retain control over cocaine trafficking routes.
President Petro has repeatedly attempted to bring the region under full military and state control, but progress has been hampered by resistance from local actors and the failure of recent peace talks with the EMC. The dialogue collapsed after EMC leader Iván Mordisco withdrew from the negotiation table last year.
This is not the first time security forces have been captured in the region. In March 2025, 28 police officers and a soldier were temporarily held by locals in the same area. They were later released following intervention by human rights organizations.
Colombia is currently facing what analysts call the worst security crisis in a decade, as the government struggles to contain violence across rural and urban areas. Several dissident groups have rushed to fill the power vacuum left after the FARC demobilization in 2016.
As of Monday morning, the soldiers remained in captivity. Negotiations for their release are reportedly underway with the assistance of humanitarian groups.
