A guerrilla attack near Colombia’s southern border with Ecuador resulted in the temporary kidnapping of four members of the investigative unit (CTI) of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Colombian government announced on Thursday.
Guerrillas allegedly belonging to Colombia’s largest rebel group, the FARC, activated a load of explosives near a bridge in the state of Nariño that blew up two vehicles and led to the kidnapping of the four officials, according to Colombia’s Caracol Radio.
A statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office explained, “The officials were kidnapped when travelling in a pick-up truck on the way to the village of Chilvi to perform an ‘exhumation.'”
After robbing and issuing threats against the CTI members, the guerrillas decided to release their captives.
Of the two vehicles that were set ablaze, one belonged to the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the other belonged to Colombia’s state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, according to Caracol.
Ecopetrol has been under constant attack from both the FARC and Colombia’s second largest guerrilla group, the ELN, for many years.
The oil company saw in increase in production in 2013, yet it fell short of its initial production goals as attacks by rebel groups like the FARC and ELN were blamed as a chief cause in the failure to meet the production target.
MORE: Colombia’s Ecopetrol increased production and reserves but missed 2013 target
Attacks by the FARC numbered 259, a 72% increase compared to the year before.
If the FARC were responsible for the kidnapping, the quick release of the captives could be a result of the FARC’s promise in 2012 to end kidnapping in an effort to encourage foreign investing.
MORE: End to FARC kidnapping ‘good for foreign investment in Colombia’
Sources
- Fiscalia investiga secuestro e inmediata liberacion de funcionarios del CTI (Prosecutor General’s Office)
- FARC dinamita puente, quema 2 autos y secuestra 4 funcionarios de la Fiscalia (Caracol Radio)