June 01, 2021 Tatjana Muskiet
Eight Venezuelan soldiers seized by an armed group near the Colombian border have been rescued, Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino says. Gen Padrino did not give any details about the mission in which the eight were freed, or of the captors who had taken them. A group of Colombian rebels had said it was behind the abduction of the soldiers. There have been skirmishes between the Venezuelan army and former rebels. A group calling itself 10th Front Martín Villa said in a letter it sent to the Red Cross in May that it had seized the soldiers during clashes on 23 April in the Venezuelan state of Apure, which borders Colombia.(BBC)…[+]
Eight Venezuelan soldiers have been captured during combat with "irregular Colombian armed groups" in the border state of Apure, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Saturday.
(Adds video broadcast, opposition response)
CARACAS, May 15 (Reuters) - Eight Venezuelan soldiers have been captured during combat with irregular Colombian armed groups in the border state of Apure, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Saturday.
Padrino did not specify when or where the soldiers were captured, but said the armed forces had received proof they were alive on May 9. A Venezuelan non-governmental organization, Fundaredes, reported on the detentions earlier this week, but Venezuelan officials had not previously commented. We have established the necessary contacts for their prompt liberation, and the Republic s Foreign Ministry is coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross to act as a link for the release of our brothers in arms, Padrino said, reading a statement on state television.
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