Twenty -eight police officers and a military man held from Thursday in the southwest Colombiareleased today, a group of French agency found.

Around noon today, the residents of the La Hassenda community in the prefecture of Kauka asked the persons who were held to get back.

Shortly thereafter, the detainees escaped residents of the area. The Ministry of Defense had announced yesterday, Friday, that they were being held by a group of guerrillas of former FARCs (Colombia’s revolutionary Armed Forces).

On the way, Major Nilson Bentoya, the only soldier of the team, said in a troubled voice that he could not stop thinking about his family. “My family, my wife, my son, who are waiting for me at home,” he said, conveying his equipment to his shoulder.

Officers and the military were arrested on Thursday, after a day of clashes between residents and security forces, as part of a military operation aimed at putting an end to drug -related violence in a region where the rally of drug crops is one of the highest.

Earlier today, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez had warned, in a radio interview, that the soldiers would be released, if necessary, using “the fair power of the state”.

Sanchez and other representatives of Gustavo’s left -wing government were to meet today with the inhabitants of the provincial capital Popayan to hear the demands of the communities.

In October 2024 the army had launched the Perseus military operation there to regain control of the region. Peter’s government proposes an ambitious crop replacement program to combat the economy of drug smuggling, a strategy that residents denounce as a “compulsory elimination” campaign.

“We will continue to work for this land so that people can have a better future,” the commander Bentogia said. “They sold to the villagers the idea that we are enemies, but we are their best allies,” he added.