The four choppers provided by President Hugo Chávez to rescue three people held by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) left on Thursday the Colombian town of Villavicencio for Venezuela, reported the Colombian police.

The aircrafts, including two MI-172 and two Bell, took off at 07:15 hours, local time, from Vanguardia airport, 95 kilometers from Bogota, police commander in chief, Colonel Omar Acevedo, told AFP.

On Monday, the FARC announced their decision to suspend indefinitely the operation to free the hostages, by arguing intense military action in south Colombia, the site of the handover.

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe denied any clashes in the area over the past two weeks and claimed that the guerrillas had discontinued the operation because they were not in possession of Emmanuel, the 3-year-old son of politician Clara Rojas, who was among the three hostages the FARC promised to set free.