The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released Monday five university studentsand one professor who had been kidnapped last week in the northwest of the country.

"The kidnapping had not justification whatsoever, because thosewere students of scarce resources who were in the zone doing research," said the sources of the University of Medellin, where the students and the professor have returned now.

The kidnapping occurred last Wednesday when the students and the professor of the University of Antioquia were caught by guerrillas in the rural zone of the municipality of Frontino, in the northwestern department of Antioquia, where they were embarkedon a ecological investigation of the communities.

The FARC is the largest left-wing guerrilla organization in Colombia, followed by the ELN. They have 20,000 and 4,500 insurgents respectively, both operating throughout the country on different fronts.

Colombia has been plagued by a four-decade civil war, in which leftist rebels, far-right paramilitary and governmental troops fight each other. An average of 3,500 people were killed every year.

About 2,000 people, including 22 foreigners, were kidnapped in Colombia last year.

Source: Xinhua