At least seven agents of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) were killed this Saturday in an ambush of “presumed terrorists with long-range firearms” in the Valley of the rivers Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro (Vraem), the largest coca-growing basin in the country, an area where the last stronghold of Sendero Luminoso is attacked.
“We mourn the loss of our brother policemen who They were ambushed as they were traveling in a police vehicle in the city center of Natividad in Vraem, where seven officers died and one police officer survived,” the PNP confirmed on its Twitter account.
The attempt occurred near the city of Natividad, in the district of Pichari, which belongs to the department of Cuzco and is part of Vraem, an area that has remained in a state of emergency for more than a decade due to the presence of the remnants of the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, who coexist with the illicit trafficking of substances narcotics.
Sources in the investigation have indicated they are investigating the details of what happened and those responsible for the deaths, as well as their links to the remains of Sendero Luminoso, which serves as an armed protection group for cocaine producers in the region.
The images released in local media show several vehicles on the road and among them, an overturned truck with gunshot marks and police bodies traveling in the back.
The Police reported on social networks that the deceased are the agents Alfredo Loayza Carbajal, Luis Cerron Palacios, Wilder Eliseo Conozco, Iván Muñoz Fasabi, Sandro Villegas Corahiua, Williams Quispe Anchay, Saul Huarco Samaniego and the only survivor, who was injured, is Captain Edwin Mego Villogas.
Investigate Shining Path
Sendero Luminoso, responsible for the highest number of victims during the internal conflict in the country between 1980 and 2000, has evolved in recent decades into a mafia drug trafficking and for two decades operations by the Joint Forces Command of the Armed Forces have been underway to put an end of these groups.
The Interior Ministry “deeply regretted the loss of the seven brave policemen who were carrying out their duties at the site” and sent its condolences to the families of the deceased in a statement confirming the details of the attack.
“We express our deepest regrets over the death of our brave cowardly policemen in a hole in the center of the city of Natividad, Vraem. Our deepest condolences to their loved ones and the entire police family,” the ministry said of Defense in a statement. statement statement released on social media. EFE extension
Source: Clarin
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