Colombian troops have rescued a fourth officer kidnapped by Farc rebels, hours after three others - including a police general captured nearly 12 years ago - were freed in an another blow to the weakened guerrilla movement, authorities said.
After intense combat in the country's southern jungles, elite troops liberated three officers yesterday in a raid on a guerrilla camp, including a police general and a colonel held for nearly 12 years in secret jungle prisons by Latin America's oldest surviving insurgency.
Hours later, troops also found Colonel William Donato, also held for 12 years by the Farc, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
"During the operation he had hidden; they were searching for him for hours and at 5:30 am he made contact with one of the patrols," an armed forces spokesman said.
Rebels from the Farc have been battered by president Uribe's US-backed security drive that has pushed them into remote jungles and mountains, where they are still holding an estimated 18 military and police hostages for political leverage.
The rescue came days before Colombians vote for Uribe's successor after two terms dominated by his unceasing war on the Farc and cocaine traffickers. His former defence minister, Juan Manuel Santos, is favoured to win the June 20 election and promises to maintain a tough line on rebels.
The rescue is the highest profile operation since a 2008 mission that freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors who were kidnapped when their airplane crashed while on an anti-drug mission.
Once a powerful army that controlled large parts of Colombia, the Farc has been hit hard during Uribe's eight years in office with the loss of several top commanders, high-profile hostage rescues and a stream of desertions.
But aided by cocaine trafficking, the rebel group is still a capable force in some rural areas where state presence is weak. In December a rebel unit kidnapped and killed the governor of Caqueta province and last month rebels killed nine marines during a raid on a guerrilla camp.
Reuters