Bogota, July 04: Upto 20 people were kidnapped at
illegal checkpoints set up by the Leftist National Liberation
Army (ELN) along roads in northwestern Colombia, police and
military sources said today.
The largest kidnapping took place yesterday in San Luis
in Antioquia department, along the road between Bogota and
Medillon, Colombia's two largest cities.
The guerrillas stopped four buses and after checking
identity cards abducted between 15 to 20 people, according to
witnesses.
"The guerrillas told us all to lie down, requested
documents and then they released some of us, but took several
people into the mountains," said one witness.
Two students and a dentist were kidnapped by the ELN
from road blocks yesterday in the Ponce municipality, although
officials said there were indications that more people might
have been taken.
At another road block in the angostura municipality
today, the ELN rebels stopped another bus and took one
22-year-old man.
Bureau Report
