The remaining 45 soldiers from a group detained in guerrilla-controlled southwestern Colombia were freed on Monday, a Defense Ministry spokesman told AFP.

The troops had been seized Sunday while on an operation in the Cauca region, a drug-producing hotspot and bastion of a renegade faction of the defunct FARC guerrilla army. An initial batch of 27 were freed Sunday.

Colombian soldiers and police officers are often detained in areas controlled by armed groups.

According to the government, such detentions are often carried out by locals acting on the orders of armed groups in areas where there is little state presence.

In June, 57 soldiers were detained in the same region before being released days later following military intervention.

In late August, 33 soldiers were held captive for

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