BBC News Online: World: Americas

Missing Colombian soldiers taken captive

Military officials in Colombia say they believe left-wing guerrillas are holding eighteen soldiers who have been missing since an attack on an army base last Sunday.

The officials say their information is based on an intercepted radio conversation between guerrilla leaders.

The soldiers were among more than thirty troops guarding a remote communications base in the Andes mountains in the south-west Narino province.

The base was overrun by hundreds of guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

A local bishop has offered to mediate between the rebels and the government.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service