34 Colombian Soldiers Kidnapped by FARC Dissidents After Fierce Jungle Clashes

Report by “Safarti Tarjuman” International News Desk

Bogotá — Colombia’s Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez has confirmed that at least 34 soldiers were kidnapped in Guaviare province following intense clashes with FARC dissidents, which left 11 rebels dead, including a senior commander of the dissident faction known as the Central General Staff (EMC).

The confrontation erupted on Sunday in the rural municipality of El Retorno, a region that remains a strategic corridor for drug trafficking and home to vast coca plantations, the raw ingredient for cocaine production.

Sánchez denounced the abductions as a criminal kidnapping carried out by armed civilians linked to the EMC.

“This is an illegal and criminal action. These soldiers were taken while withdrawing from the combat zone,” Sánchez told reporters.

The EMC, composed of former FARC fighters who rejected the 2016 peace deal, continues to defy government authority and controls lucrative illicit economies. Despite the demobilization of FARC nine years ago, Colombia’s security crisis persists, with armed groups financing themselves through drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion.

This latest kidnapping mirrors a June 2025 incident, when 57 soldiers were abducted in southwestern Colombia, underscoring the resilience of FARC dissident networks.

The kidnapping follows a surge in violence across Colombia attributed to FARC dissidents

• In Cali, a car bombing near a military aviation school killed six people and injured 71.
• Hours earlier, a National Police Black Hawk helicopter was downed by a rebel drone in Antioquia, killing 12 officers.
• At least 18 people died in coordinated rebel attacks last week, attributed to FARC dissidents.

President Gustavo Petro strongly condemned the kidnappings and recent attacks, holding dissident factions accountable for undermining Colombia’s fragile peace and endangering civilian lives.

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