Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed via social media on the 21st that 18 soldiers were surrounded and forcibly detained by about 200 local people while carrying out a mission in Choco province in western Colombia that day. He strongly condemned this. Sanchez said that at the time of the incident, the Colombian army was carrying out military operations against the anti-government armed “Armed Forces of National Liberation of Colombia” in the rural area of El Carmen de Atrato in Choco province. The purpose of this operation was to protect local civilians from the threat of violence by illegal armed forces. Sanchez said that the Ministry of Defense, together with the Ministry of the Interior, the Choco provincial government and human rights agencies, is giving priority to ensuring the lives and safety of the detained persons and avoiding injury to local residents.

Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed via social media on the 21st that 18 soldiers were surrounded and forcibly detained by about 200 local people while carrying out a mission in Choco province in western Colombia that day. He strongly condemned this. Sanchez said that at the time of the incident, the Colombian army was carrying out military operations against the anti-government armed “Armed Forces of National Liberation of Colombia” in the rural area of El Carmen de Atrato in Choco province. The purpose of this operation was to protect local civilians from the threat of violence by illegal armed forces. Sanchez said that the Ministry of Defense, together with the Ministry of the Interior, the Choco provincial government and human rights agencies, is giving priority to ensuring the lives and safety of the detained persons and avoiding injury to local residents.