Eighteen people, including two children, were shot dead in Peru in a remote coca-growing valley, the armed forces blaming the killings on isolated fighters of the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla.

"We are at 18" villagers killed in the village of San Miguel del Ene, in the valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro rivers (central-south), the main coca production sector in Peru, announced on Monday May 24th. , anti-terrorism police chief Oscar Arriola on television.

The victims are ten men and six women, in addition to the two children.

In this region still operates, according to the government, the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla who fought the Peruvian army between 1980 and 2000, causing thousands of victims.

This killing could raise tensions in the polarized campaign of the second round of the presidential election of June 6.

Right-wing populist candidate Keiko Fujimori accuses her radical left-wing opponent Pedro Castillo of being linked to the political wing of the Shining Path, which he fiercely denies.

Pedro Castillo hastened to denounce on Twitter "this terrorist act", his rival criticizing "bloody acts".

Mi solidaridad con las familias de las 18 víctimas en el cobarde ataque ocurrido en Pichari, VRAEM.

Condeno enérgicamente este atentado terrorista and insto a la justice a that aica todo el peso de la ley.

No vamos tolerar ningún acto de violencia.

- Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) May 24, 2021

"These facts remind us of the time of barbarism and terror experienced by the country for more than twenty years, which left more than 70,000 dead and a large number of missing", worried, for his part, Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos, president of the Latin American Episcopal Council.

"Leaflets were found on the site urging the population not to participate in the 2021 electoral process," the army said in a statement, attributing the attack to a Shining Path column led by Victor Quispe Palomino, said "Comrade José".

Scattered fighters

If almost all the leaders of the Maoist guerrilla are now behind bars, there are still a few fighters scattered in isolated forest and mountainous areas.

Authorities estimate their number at 350 and accuse them of cooperating with drug traffickers.

"I strongly condemn the murder of these people," tweeted interim Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti, who ordered "the deployment of" military and police patrols in the area "so that this terrorist action does not go unpunished."

Condeno y repudio enérgicamente el asesinato de 14 personas en el Vraem.

He ordenado el despliegue de patrullas de las FFAA y la @PoliciaPeru en la zona, para que esta acción terrorista no quede impune.

(1/1)

- Francisco Sagasti (@FSagasti) May 24, 2021

The prosecution has tasked a unit specializing in terrorism to investigate these murders.

Defense Minister Nuria Esparch pledged that they "will not go unpunished".

In 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) counted some 70,000 dead or missing during the 20 years of conflict (1980-2000) between the army and the guerrillas of the Shining Path and the Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru (MRTA , Guévariste).

According to the CVR, the Shining Path is responsible for 54% of the victims of this internal conflict.

Among its most bloody actions, the assassination in 1984 of 117 peasants of Soras, in the region of Ayacucho (south), for refusing to support the movement.

Peru is one of the world's leading producers of coca and cocaine, along with Colombia and Bolivia.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR