BOGOTA, March 8 (UPI) -- Colombian government troops swooped down on leftist rebels and freed 22 of 23 kidnapped oil field workers, officials said Tuesday.
The oil field workers, employed by a contractor of Canada's Talisman Energy, were kidnapped by about six armed individuals Monday afternoon in the remote eastern state of Vichada, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Vichada Gov. Juan Carlos Avila told a Colombian television reporter the leftist guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC, was behind the kidnappings near the jungle village of Puerto Principe, about 450 miles east of Bogota.
The newspaper said the rescuers were helped by information provided by a hostage who had escaped right after the abductions.
"The world came down on the heads of these terrorists," said Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera, adding the special military unit rescued the kidnap victims in an overnight raid. Search-and-rescue operations were under way to find and free the sole remaining hostage, the Times said.
