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Clash in Peruvian Jungle Leaves 16 Dead
A gunfight between police and suspected leftist rebels in Peru's central jungle left at least 12 gunmen and four police officers dead, Peru's interior minister said Wednesday.
Fernando Rospigliosi told Radioprogramas radio station that the clash occurred Tuesday after a police patrol encountered a band of drug traffickers and guerrillas in the Amazon province of Satipo, 190 miles northeast of the capital, Lima.
"There were more armed men than they thought, between 12 and 15 drug traffickers and terrorists," he said. "Unfortunately, four police officers died in the confrontation."
El Comercio, Peru's leading newspaper, reported that the armed men were members of the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla group. The rebels had entered an Indian village a day earlier, trying to indoctrinate the inhabitants, El Comercio reported.
Joint army-police patrols were combing the rugged, lightly populated area to track down the remaining rebels and collect the dead bodies, he added.
The Shining Path in the late 1980s and early 1990s almost brought the Peruvian government to its knees, assassinating mayors and informers in the countryside and waging a vicious car-bombing campaign in Lima.
Guerrilla activity in Peru decreased dramatically after the capture of top rebel leaders in 1992. Fighting has left some 30,000 dead since 1980, including security forces, rebels and civilians.
Rospigliosi said the police patrol Tuesday was part of an ongoing operation begun in March to purge the Satipo area of a lingering guerrilla presence.
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