Police in the southwestern Colombian department of Cauca reported Wednesday that an army sergeant has been kidnapped by dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
At around 4 p.m., armed men from the Carlos Patiño Front intercepted a public service bus traveling to the town of Patía in which Sergeant Juan Gabriel Chichanoi was traveling, making all the passengers get off, as reported by the radio station Blu Radio.
Upon identifying that one of them was a military man, they tied him up and left him on the side of the road along with other supplies, and then took him to an unknown location, according to the aforementioned media outlet.
After that, the bus with its driver and the other passengers continued their journey on the orders of the armed men and, by the time the police arrived at the scene of the incident, they found the suitcase of the soldier with his documents.
«In coordination with the competent authorities in the region, as soon as the incident became known, the search mechanism was immediately activated. Likewise, internal protocols were initiated to accompany the family of our soldier,» the Colombian Army said in a statement.
The Armed Forces of the country have described the criminal action as «a flagrant violation of Human Rights and infringement of International Humanitarian Law».
«We consider this criminal action unacceptable, ratifying that our soldier was in a state of defenselessness; we demand respect for his life and his immediate release so that he can return to his family», added the Colombian Army.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
