Peru: 18 People Reportedly Killed by Armed Group

Peru's National Police (PNP) Commander Cesar Cervantes on Monday reported that 10 men, 6 women, and 2 minors were killed by remnants of the "Shining Path" (Sendero Luminoso), a Communist guerrilla group that operated in the country's Andean region during the 1990s. 

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This event occurred last night in the San Miguel town, in the Vizcatan district, in Ayacucho. The PNP Commander ordered the displacement of troops from the Anti-Terrorism Directorate (Dircote) to this area.

In this rural zone, several Shining Path pamphlets were found. Through them, this armed organization promises to eliminate liquor sales sites and to clean out criminals and corrupt people.

"What we know is that alcoholic beverages are sold in this place, but we will have more precise information when Dircote personnel arrives to analyze indications and evidence," Cervantes said.

"These deaths are confirmed. There are probably more dead people. The PNP is moving to the place with the corresponding measures since the area is an emergency zone," he added, explaining that many rural families are involved in coca cultivation in the area.

After acquiring international relevance during the 1980s and 1990s, Shining Path was defeated militarily during the Alberto Fujimori administration (1990-2000).

This period saw bloody counterinsurgency actions that led to the imprisonment of most of the leaders of this organization, which managed to survive in small groups linked to illegal activities in remote areas of the Peruvian Amazon.