Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday authorized a humanitarian operation that aims to retrieve two policemen and one soldier who are held by the rebel group FARC.
The operation will be carried out by international humanitarian organization Red Cross and Colombians for Peace, a peace advocacy group led by the controversial former Senator Piedad Cordoba.
Following the FARC’s announcement that it would release the captured troops on Friday, both the Red Cross and Colombians for Peace announced they were ready to retrieve the hostages.
MORE: Red Cross ready to retrieve policemen, soldier held by FARC
The FARC kidnapped the two policemen in the southwestern Valle del Cauca department over a week ago. The soldier was apparently caught by guerrilla fighters during combat in the southwestern Nariño department on Thursday.
MORE: FARC kidnapped cops in southwestern Colombia: Police
The FARC officially announced it would ban kidnapping early last year. Even before that, the rebels began releasing captured members of the security forces to the Red Cross. According to anti-kidnapping NGO Pais Libre, the rebels have continued kidnapping, but the NGOs numbers have been inconsistent.
