"The 36 [workers] are safe and sound and the operation will continue until this terrorist faction is captured," he said.

The president recalled that preserving the lives and safety of the abducted workers was always the government's priority.

Without going into details, he said there have been some clashes as part of search and rescue operations by the Armed Forces and National Police.

"The important thing is that we won today, it was a flawless operation in which we managed to rescue them at zero cost, without any negotiation," he told RPP radio station from Cartagena, Colombia, where he is attending the 6th Summit of the Americas.

President Humala said that new national heroes have sprung up out of this search and rescue effort, and noted that the death of police captain Nancy Flores "has caused us all great pain, but it was not in vain."

(END) GCO/EEP