A soldier serving in the French Foreign Legion who was kidnapped in Colombia’s Nariño department has escaped his captors after four days of evading them in rugged terrain. José Olger Melo Charry, a Colombian native who lives abroad but was visiting family and friends near Pasto, had been missing since August 5, when he disappeared in a rural area of Cumbitara municipality.
Authorities say he was held by members of the “Franco Benavides” front, a group tied to dissident fighters loyal to alias “Iván Mordisco,” a commander who broke away from Colombia’s 2016 peace accords with the FARC guerrilla. Late Saturday night, Melo Charry walked into a small police outpost in the village of El Ejido, part of Policarpa municipality, after days of fleeing on foot.
Police gave him immediate care and coordinated his transfer, first by land and then by helicopter, to the regional capital of Pasto, where he remains hospitalized under observation alongside relatives. Investigators from Colombia’s military kidnapping unit (Gaula) and the Attorney General’s technical investigation team are working the case and plan to interview him once doctors give clearance, hoping to learn how he escaped and who held him.
The rescue came as Colombian forces pressed operations against the same rebel front elsewhere in Nariño, reportedly killing seven fighters and capturing five others in a separate clash over the weekend.
For the full story in Spanish, visit El Tiempo.
Source: Miembro de la Legión Francesa que estaba secuestrado en Nariño escapó de las disidencias de 'Iván Mordisco' (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: US Army Africa, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).