French Foreign Legion corporal abducted by dissidents in Colombia

On August 6, 2026, Jose Olzer Melo Chari, a French-Colombian corporal serving in the French Foreign Legion, was abducted in the Nariño department of southwestern Colombia. The Colombian armed forces confirmed the incident, stating that the soldier was on leave visiting his home country at the time of the kidnapping.

According to an internal military report, the abduction was carried out by dissident members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a group that rejected the 2016 peace agreement. The captors reportedly identified the corporal's affiliation with the French Foreign Legion while he was traveling on a road in the region, which prompted them to seize him. Colonel Mauricio Osorio confirmed the details of the event in a statement to Blu Radio, noting that the kidnapping is attributed to a faction of the former FARC rebels.