Bogota: A Colombian soldier serving in the French Foreign Legion who was held hostage by guerrillas successfully escaped his captors in Colombia, having fled on foot and traversed rebel-controlled territory during a four-day trek to reach safety, military sources stated.
Jose Olger Melo Charry was taken hostage on August 6 by a dissident faction of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group while he was traveling on a highway in Colombia's southwest.
His "military training and his membership of the French Legion" were what "kept him alive," the Colombian army source said.
Melo Charry, a corporal in the French Foreign Legion in his early thirties, was abducted while on leave in Narino department, parts of which are controlled by cocaine-trafficking guerrillas.
He made his escape Thursday and, after walking for four days, presented himself to police in the Andean town of Policarpa.
From there he was transferred to a hospital in Pasto, capital of Narino, where he was said to be "doing well."
"He is undergoing medical tests and receiving psychological support," the army official said, adding that the solider had been placed under the protection of the security forces.
The official cited fears for the escaped soldier's safety and for "his relatives in the region." The details of Melo Charry's getaway are not yet clear.
The French Foreign Legion is an elite unit of the French Army composed mainly of volunteers spanning dozens of nationalities who serve in international military operations.
France's Defense Ministry said Melo Charry, who joined the French army four years ago, had no authorization to travel to Colombia.
The Central General Staff (EMC), the biggest of the dissident FARC factions that rejected a historic 2016 peace deal between the rebel army and the state, had claimed responsibility for his abduction.
The EMC did not demand a ransom for his release but had warned Colombia's new president Abelardo De la Espriella against "any attempt at a rescue operation."
