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Colombian Special Police Force arrive after fighting with leftist guerrillas - Source: Reuters
Colombian FARC guerrillas kidnapped five local oil contractors in a rural region near the Venezuelan border but another worker escaped when the rebel captors crashed their vehicle, authorities said.
The captive men were working for oil service companies Tuboscope and Tecnioriente, contracted by the local unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp near the Caricare oilfield in Arauca State, a local army commander said.
Violence and kidnappings in the country's long war have eased under President Alvaro Uribe, who sent troops to retake areas under rebel control. But the kidnappings underscored the threat guerrillas still present in the Andean country.
"They kidnapped six workers from Tuboscope and Tecnioriente," army commander General Rafael Neira told local radio. "They took them to a rural area... the army reacted and rescued one of the workers."
Once a powerful rebel force, the FARC or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has been battered to its weakest in decades. Foreign investment, especially in oil and mining, is booming as companies are drawn to Colombia.
The country is now Latin America's No. 4 oil producer with output of more than 700,000 barrels per day.
Rebels have often snatched civilians for extortion, but they are also holding 24 soldiers and police for political leverage as part of Latin America's oldest insurgency.
The FARC plans to free two soldiers to the Red Cross in a few days.
