Incident Summary:
03/07/2011: On Monday afternoon at 1300, in the rural jungle area of Puerto Principe in Cumaribo, Vichada, Colombia, 23 Colombian employees of a subcontractor for the Talisman Energy Canadian oil company were abducted by seven armed militants from the16th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The hostages were transported in boats on the Uva River and 21 of the 23 hostages were released the next day on 03/08/2011 on Tuesday in an unspecified location in Colombia. One of the hostages managed to escape captivity Monday night while the status of the last remaining hostage is unknown. Authorities suspect that the motive of the attack may have been either to obtain a ransom or to prevent outside intrusion into their jungle stronghold.
Overview
GTD ID:
201103070008
When:
2011-03-07
Country:
Colombia
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Vichada
City:
Near Cumaribo
Location Details:
The hostage taking took place in the rural jungle area of Puerto Principe in Cumaribo, Vichada, Colombia.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Talisman Energy |
Specific Description |
Twenty three Colombian employees of a subcontractor for the Talisman Energy Canadian oil company |
Nationality of Target |
Colombia |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
23 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Outcome |
Combination |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
Unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The summary of this incident was partially based on an article originally written in Spanish. Twenty one of the 23 hostages were released the next day on 03/08/2011 on Tuesday in an unspecified location in Colombia. One of the hostages managed to escape captivity Monday night (03/07/2011) while the status of the last remaining hostage is unknown. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
7 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Xinhua News Agency, "Twenty Two Kidnapped Colombian Oil Workers Freed," Xinhua News Agency, March 8, 2011, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/08/c_13767446.htm. |
El Tiempo, "FARC Kidnaps 23 Employees of an Oil Company," El Tiempo, March 8, 2011, http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/ARTICULO-WEB-NEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-8984588.html. |
Press TV, "Kidnapped Colombian Oil Workers Freed," http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168855.html (March 8, 2011). |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties