29 kidnapped law enforcement officers in southwest Colombia are freed

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Saturday that 29 law enforcement officers recently kidnapped in the country’s southwest region have been freed.

The 28 police officers and one soldier had been kidnapped Thursday during a violent attack in the El Plateado region.

Sánchez thanked a local community for acting as mediators and pushing for the group's release.

The attack was blamed on supporters of the armed group known as Carlos Patiño, whose members are dissidents of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who did not subscribe to a 2016 peace deal with the government.

“Justice will do its thing,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

Sánchez had told W radio earlier that those kidnapped were in good physical condition, were being fed and could move within a confined space.