A Colombian soldier in the French Foreign Legion who was held hostage by guerrillas in the South American nation is "doing well" after escaping his captors, a Colombian military source told AFP on Monday.
Jose Olger Melo Charry was taken hostage on August 6 by a dissident faction of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group while he was traveling on a highway in Colombia's southwest.
He was abducted while on leave.
He escaped Thursday and, after walking for four days, presented himself to authorities who transferred him to a hospital, according to an army official.
The source said Melo Charry's "military training and his membership of the French Legion" were what "kept him alive."
He remains under protection of security forces in hospital.
The French Foreign Legion is an elite unit of the French Army composed mainly of volunteers spanning dozens of nationalities who serve in international military operations.
France's Defense Ministry said Melo Charry, who joined the French army four years ago, had no authorization to travel to Colombia.
The Central General Staff (EMC), a breakaway faction of FARC that rejected a historic 2016 peace deal with the state, had claimed responsibility for his abduction.
They did not demand a ransom for his release.
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