The ELN rebel group in Colombia said earlier today that they killed a Russian hostage a few months ago. The group revealed that the hostage was shot in April.
They said he was killed when he attempted to escape. The rebels took him hostage last year and they say it happened when he was caught trying to collect frogs. According to the rebels, the Russian citizen was collecting the frogs to take them to other countries.
The ELN group is not part of the peace deal that was agreed to by the government and another group recently. The group has discussed a deal with the government but nothing has been approved by the two sides. The ELN rebel group was the second biggest group before Farc agreed to a deal.
The death of the Russian citizen comes as the Farc group is completing a deal with the government. In recent weeks, the Farc group has handed containers of weapons to the government. The last container was recently handed to the government, completing a deal that took years. Farc recently announced a new logo and will become a political party. The deal was discussed for years and means a change for what was once Colombia’s biggest rebel group.
The rebels gave more details on what happened during the incident with the hostage. They say it happened when he was being taken to an area where he would be handed to Red Cross workers. But the group says he suddenly grabbed a grenade from one of them and tried to escape. The group shot him dead as he was running away. The incident happened back in April but the rebel group revealed it just a few hours ago.
The Colombian government has not commented on the incident but experts say this could affect peace talks between the two sides.
