Colombian captives freed after 11 years

Colombian soldiers freed two high-ranking police officers and an army sergeant who were among the longest-held rebel captives during a raid yesterday in the South American nation's southern jungle.

Six months in the planning, the operation freed General Luis Mendieta and Colonel Enrique Murillo, both captured by leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrillas in a November 1998 siege of the eastern provincial capital of Mitu.

Also freed was Arbey Delgado, a soldier held since an August 1998 rebel attack on an anti-drug outpost in the southern jungle town of Miraflores. About 19 security force members remain captive.