BOGOTA (Reuters) -Nearly three-dozen soldiers who had been kidnapped by armed civilians in a jungle area of southeastern Colombia have been released, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday.

The soldiers were kidnapped on August 25 after clashes in a rural part of the El Retorno municipality left 11 guerrillas dead, including a commander of a dissident faction of the former FARC rebel group.

The 33 soldiers had been kidnapped shortly before evacuating the area, the minister had said.

The jungle region is a stronghold of a dissident faction of the former FARC rebel group, which rejected a 2016 peace deal.

The area is considered a strategic corridor for drug trafficking and is known for its extensive coca crops, the raw material used to make cocaine.

Authorities accuse the group

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