MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru: Shining Path attack results in 6 people killed

“My deepest condolences to the families of the four courageous members of the Peruvian army who died in Putis, Ayacucho,” Boluarte said on social networks

Four Peruvian troops and two members of the Shining Path terrorist group were killed in a gunfight in the department of Ayacucho where a law enforcement patrol was performing “territorial control actions,” it was reported from Lima by the Joint Command of the Armed Forces. Remnants of the Maoist rebel group once focused on overthrowing the government have turned to drug trafficking.

In addition to the four casualties (one lieutenant and three NCOs), there were three troops wounded and taken to the local hospital in Ayacucho.

“The Joint Command of the Armed Forces deeply regrets the sensitive death of our brothers of the Peruvian Army, pledging to always remain firm in the struggle for the pacification of the country,” the document stated.

“During the confrontation, the security forces managed to kill two terrorist criminals, who fell with their long-range weapons,” it went on.

The troops were attacked in the coca-growing valley known as VRAEM (after the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro rivers), where the armed forces have been fighting drug trafficking gangs and the remnants of the almost disappeared Maoist guerrillas for more than two decades.

“Unfortunately, during this action, four brave members of the armed forces died, whose remains will be transferred shortly to the city of Huamanga,” it was explained.

“My deepest condolences to the families of the four courageous members of the Peruvian army who died in Putis, Ayacucho, during a confrontation with narcoterrorists,” President Dina Boluarte wrote on social media.

The deadly skirmish underscores fighting between the military and armed groups seeking control of the lucrative drug trade in Peru, the second-largest coca leaf producer in the world after neighboring Colombia.

The VRAEM region has become infamous for its cocaine production. A 2021 government report estimated that 69.3% of the country’s total coca leaf production during the preceding year came from the valley.

Monday’s was the second major confrontation in the VRAEM this year. In February, seven law enforcement officers were also killed in the area.

Shining Path played a prominent role in the 1980s, when it launched a “people’s war” to violently overthrow the government and restructure society. Over the next two decades, some 70,000 people were killed and countless human rights violations were committed. The conflict ended in the 1990s with the death or imprisonment of most of the Shining Path leadership. But remnants of the group have remained active, with several hundred fighters estimated to live in the VRAEM.

Ayacucho was also a hotspot for protests against Boluarte after the Dec. 7, 2022, impeachment of former President Pedro Castillo Terrones. Amnesty International accused the armed forces of employing deadly force, showing “a blatant disregard for human life” that disproportionately targeted poor, rural, and indigenous protesters.