A group of 33 Colombian soldiers were freed Thursday after being held captive for three days in a southeastern Amazonian community home to drug crops and dissident guerrillas, the country's Ombudsman's office said.

After the soldiers engaged in fierce clashes with the guerrillas on Monday, local villagers blocked roads to prevent the departure of the troops -- an act that the leftist government of Gustavo Petro deemed a kidnapping.

"At this moment, soldiers are withdrawing from the village Nueva York" in the Guaviare province, Iris Marin, head of the Ombudsman's office, said on X.

"We urge people not to stigmatize the community," Marin added.

Delegations from the government, the Ombudsman's office and the United Nations mediated the release of the soldiers.

The authorities initially r

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