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🇵🇦 Panama /Conflict & Security

Kidnapped French Foreign Legion soldier escapes in Colombia

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Outcome reported
  • José Olger Melo Charry escaped after being held by the Estado Mayor Central, the main dissident faction of Colombia’s former FARC guerrilla group.
  • He reached a police post in Policarpa after four days on the run and was later flown to Pasto, where he remained under medical observation with relatives.
  • The EMC claimed responsibility for taking him hostage on Aug. 6 while he travelled through Nariño.

José Olger Melo Charry, a Colombian-born corporal in the French Foreign Legion, escaped after being kidnapped by the Estado Mayor Central, Colombia’s main dissident faction of the former FARC guerrilla group.

Melo Charry had been held for several days in Nariño, in southwestern Colombia. According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, he escaped and made his own way to a police post in the municipality of Policarpa. He had spent four days on the run before reaching the post on Saturday night.

Authorities later transferred him by helicopter to Pasto, the capital of Nariño. El Tiempo reported that he was taken to a medical centre, where he remained under observation with family members.

The EMC had claimed responsibility for taking him hostage on Aug. 6 as he travelled along a road in Nariño. The area is controlled by armed groups that finance their activities through drug trafficking, illegal mining and other crimes.

About this summary

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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