哥伦比亚被绑架的女童已获释

A 10-year-old Colombian girl whose kidnapping last month shocked the nation has been released.

哥伦比亚上个月被劫持一名10岁女童已获释，该起绑架案震惊全国。

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Nohora's plight provoked nationwide demonstrations
President Juan Manuel Santos said Nohora Valentina Munoz was freed after mediation³ by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

It is not yet clear who kidnapped her as she walked to school in the town of Fortul near Colombia's border with Venezuela.

But suspicion had fallen on left-wing rebel groups active in the region.

Thousands of troops and police had been involved in efforts to rescue her.

"Let's celebrate the liberation of Nohora Valentina," President Santos wrote on Twitter.

"We thank the ICRC".

Details of how her release was negotiated, and who was holding her, have not yet been made public.

Large demonstrations

Nohora, who is the daughter of the mayor of Fortul, was kidnapped by masked gunman on 29 September.

Her mother was abducted⁴（绑架） with her but released almost immediately.

Her plight provoked an outcry across Colombia, and there have been large demonstrations to demand her release.

The town of Fortul is in the Arauca region, where Colombia's two left-wing rebel groups, the ELN and the Farc, both operate.

Both groups had denied abducting⁵ the girl.

Right-wing paramilitaries（准军事部队） and criminal gangs are also active in the region.

Colombia was once known as the "kidnap capital of the world", but the kidnapping rate has fallen sharply over the past decade.