MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Narco-terrorists” in Peru kill 12 soldiers and 7 civilians

Shinning Path rebels ambushed a column of military trucks in the Peruvian south-eastern mountains with bombs and gunfire killing 12 soldiers and 7 civilians said Peru military high command. It's the deadliest rebel attack in years.

The Peruvian Army blamed the Maoist "narco-terrorist" group for the attack on Thursday night in Tayacaja province, a region where most of Peru's coca leaf and cocaine is produced. Soldiers were giving a lift to the women and children killed in the ambush attack. Peru's conflict with the guerrillas had been largely dormant for more than a decade, but clashes have become more common as the government cracks down on remnants of the guerrilla group who work in the cocaine trade to finance their insurgency. Last August the military sent 1.000 troops to the region of Vizcatan where the Shinning Path moved to more than a decade ago. In the days before the ambush one soldier and five rebels were killed in fighting in the area and 15 suspected guerrillas were captured. An estimated 70,000 people were killed from 1980 to the mid-'90s in the Shining Path's brutal effort to impose a Maoist communist regime on Peru. Most were peasants caught in the crossfire between security forces and the guerrillas, who numbered as many as 10,000 at their highest point. The rebel threat was virtually eliminated by former President Alberto Fujimori, a democratically elected leader who ruled with an iron fist until his regime ended in scandal in 2000. He is now on trial for human rights violations. The Shinning Path attack surprises the administration of current President Alan García in the middle of a political scandal which forced the resignation of the cabinet, and with public opinion polls showing his support plummeting to a new record low of 15% and 77% decisively unsatisfied with his performance. Even in the capital Lima, Garcia's stronghold, his support has fallen to 22% while in the rest of the country it stands at 10.8%. Dissatisfaction is centred in soaring food prices, "inefficient" performance and undelivered electoral promises. Yet the Peruvian economy in the last two years has been growing at the highest rate in the region boosted by commodity exports. The corruption scandal involves members of Mr. Garcia's party APRA that allegedly according to tape recordings aired during a television program, influenced the awarding of oil exploration areas to Norwegian oil corporation Discovery. Apparently money was involved and in the tapes even the cabinet chief is mentioned. The cabinet resigned and President Garcia is expected to name a new team over the weekend, hopefully with less political cronies and more experts and independents. Mr. Garcia carries the burden of his first mandate, 1985/1990 which was considered one of the most corrupt and inefficient in recent Peruvian history. Political scientist Martin Saavedra said that overall the population feels there has been a good management of the economy, but merit belongs mostly to previous administrations and the benefit of macroeconomic achievements have not reached the majority of Peruvians.