Overview

• Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said 34 special operations troops, including 20 marines, were seized by armed civilians in El Retorno, Guaviare, following heavy fighting.
• Military authorities reported about 11 dissidents killed in the operation, including local commander Willinton Vanegas Leyva, known as Dumar.
• Authorities say the captors are pressing for the return of bodies from the operation as a condition for release, though the remains are under forensic custody.
• The government says it is mobilizing all available capabilities to secure the soldiers’ freedom, describing the detentions as retaliation by dissident forces.
• The captures follow a deadly week that saw a police helicopter shot down in Antioquia, killing 13 officers, and a truck bombing in Cali linked to the Mordisco faction that killed six and injured dozens, as limited contacts with a Calarcá-led faction continue without concrete progress.