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| - Eight Venezuelan soldiers who had been kidnapped by armed groups operating on the Colombian border have been rescued, Caracas said Monday. "The eight military professionals kidnapped by Colombian illegal armed groups... were rescued" in a military operation, the Venezuelan defense ministry said in a statement. The soldiers are "safe and sound," it said. The statement also said the military was looking for two missing soldiers but did not give further details. Venezuela's armed forces have engaged in clashes with Colombian armed groups along the border since March 21, displacing thousands of civilians who fled to Colombia. On May 15, Venezuela condemned what it said was the "kidnapping" of eight soldiers by armed Colombian groups along the border. "We thank all those who made this rescue possible," the statement said Monday. "We will continue to fight against organizations that want to use our sacred national territory to commit transnational crimes affecting the peace, development and stability of the country." Shortly before the official statement, the human rights NGO Fundaredes, who had initially reported the capture on May 10, announced the soldiers had been released. "According to our information, some (soldiers) have contacted their families, they are undergoing medical examinations in Caracas," tweeted Javier Tarazona, the head of the NGO, which is critical of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela does not name the armed groups it blames for the unrest, apart from calling them "terrorists" or linking them to drug trafficking or to Colombian President Ivan Duque. However, security sources in Colombia say they are likely dissidents of the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group, an analysis Maduro has conceded was possible. Colombia announced in mid-May it was trying to verify intelligence that Jesus Santrich, a wanted dissident and former FARC leader, had been killed in Venezuela. Santrich had initially joined an historic 2016 peace accord that turned the Marxist rebel group into a political party and ended decades of civil war. Citing breaches of the peace deal, he joined the ranks of FARC dissidents in 2019, taking up arms anew. Santrich is wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States, which is offering a reward for his capture. Bogota has long accused Venezuela of shielding members of the FARC and armed rebel group ELN on its soil -- a charge Maduro denies. Some FARC fighters who refused to join the peace process have continued their struggle, while also mixing with and battling drug traffickers in lawless areas of Colombia. Venezuela and Colombia, which share a 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border, severed diplomatic ties in January 2019, after Bogota recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the leader of Venezuela over Maduro following a disputed election. atm-pgf/to/jfx
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