Ecuador police search for kidnapped reporters in border area
Wed Mar 28, 2018 12:17:pm World
4.4K By franklyn Anude
Ecuadorean police are searching for two newspaper journalists and their driver who were kidnapped near the village of Mataje, Esmeraldas province, close to the border shared with Columbia.
Former members of Colombia's FARC rebel group, who broke out following the peace deal signed by the guerrilla group with the Colombian, are heavily active in the region.
Ecuador's Interior Minister César Navas, said contact had established with the kidnappers. He said the information he had received indicated the three men were well and had been taken to neighbouring Colombia.
Navas also said the three men had been warned about the dangers of entering the area when they passed a military checkpoint.
There has been a recent surge of violence in the area. Three soldiers on patrol were killed by a bomb explosion last week, as they drove by.
Officials blames an Ecuadorean member of the FARC -known as Guacho- for the violence in the region. Guacho who describes himself as "an active guerrilla fighter" told a Colombian radio station RCN that he left the rebel group after 10 years due to a "disagreement".
The FARC, now a political party in Columbia, have denounced members who have refused to surrender their arms.
A reward of 150m pesos ($54,000; £38,000) has been offered by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, for information that will lead to the capture of Guacho.
Former members of Colombia's FARC rebel group, who broke out following the peace deal signed by the guerrilla group with the Colombian, are heavily active in the region.
Ecuador's Interior Minister César Navas, said contact had established with the kidnappers. He said the information he had received indicated the three men were well and had been taken to neighbouring Colombia.
Navas also said the three men had been warned about the dangers of entering the area when they passed a military checkpoint.
There has been a recent surge of violence in the area. Three soldiers on patrol were killed by a bomb explosion last week, as they drove by.
Officials blames an Ecuadorean member of the FARC -known as Guacho- for the violence in the region. Guacho who describes himself as "an active guerrilla fighter" told a Colombian radio station RCN that he left the rebel group after 10 years due to a "disagreement".
The FARC, now a political party in Columbia, have denounced members who have refused to surrender their arms.
A reward of 150m pesos ($54,000; £38,000) has been offered by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, for information that will lead to the capture of Guacho.
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