FARC dissident group the Estado Mayor Central has claimed responsibility for capturing French Foreign Legion corporal José Olger Melo Charry in south-western Colombia.
The rebel group said on Sunday that the Colombian national was alive, in perfect health, and receiving medical treatment and proper food after being taken hostage on August 6 while on leave.
The Colombian military revealed the soldier's disappearance on Thursday. Melo Charry, who is in his thirties, had arrived in Colombia on August 5, the day before he was captured while traveling along a road in a rural area of the Cumbitara municipality, located in the south-western department of Nariño.
According to Colombian military officials, Melo Charry was traveling with a woman who was also abducted but released several hours later. The French Ministry of Armed Forces stated that the soldier held a residence permit for metropolitan France but did not have authorization to travel to Colombia.
Guerrilla Statement and Warning
In a statement written in French, the Estado Mayor Central, or EMC, confirmed that its units intercepted and captured Melo Charry. The group said it carried out the capture after confirming his status as a foreign military member in a rural zone where active military operations were underway against its forces.
Addressing French authorities, his family, and friends, the EMC stated that it considers Melo Charry to be a prisoner of war and explicitly rejected the term kidnapping used by Colombian authorities and media. The group declared that his physical safety would be fully guaranteed provided that no hostile military operations take place in the area, warning that Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella would bear responsibility for any military rescue attempt that puts the soldier's life at risk.
Escalating Conflict in Colombia
The EMC is the principal dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. The main FARC organization was dissolved after signing a historic peace agreement with the Colombian government in 2016, but the EMC rejected the accord and continued armed rebellion.
The dissident group is led by a guerrilla commander known as Ivan Mordisco, who is considered Colombia's most wanted guerrilla. Tensions in the region have heightened following the inauguration of hard-right President Abelardo de la Espriella on August 7, 2026. De la Espriella pledged an unyielding campaign against guerrilla groups and drug trafficking networks, with several deadly military operations taking place across the country since he took office.
The French Foreign Legion is a wing of the French Army that allows foreign citizens to serve. Although Melo Charry served as an active corporal in the Legion, French defence officials confirmed that he does not hold French citizenship.
