REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BOGOTA -- Fifteen fishermen who had been abducted by Colombia's ELN guerrilla group were freed Sunday in a dramatic operation involving 200 commandos and six helicopters, the government announced.

The operation took place in the northern town of Morales. President Juan Manuel Santos first announced it in a Twitter post congratulating the military.

The operation against about a dozen rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) began early Sunday, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas told reporters in the town of Aguachica, in Cesar department.

Villegas said that when the insurgents saw the special forces arriving, they "fled the place, and our troops were able to successfully carry out the rescue."

The 15 freed Colombians were all in good health and included three minors, Villegas said. They were abducted earlier in the weekend, but only on Sunday did Villegas confirm the exact number held.

The insurgents are thought to have detained the 15 for violating an ELN ban on fishing in the area, officials said. The rebel group has not claimed responsibility.

The southern part of Bolivar department, where the abduction took place, has historically been a stronghold of the ELN, as well as other smaller guerrilla groups.

Since January 2014, the ELN has been locked in talks with the Colombian government aimed at setting an agenda for initiating a formal peace process.

Villegas said the government hoped the ELN would agree to join in formal peace talks but added that until that time, "they will be pursued when they commit abuses or crimes."

The government and the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), opened peace talks in November 2012 in Havana and have reached agreement on four of six agenda items.

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