A military officer stationed in the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro river valley, or VRAEM, was killed over the weekend during an attack by remnants of the Shining Path rebels, Radioprogramas reported.
First Sergeant Tito Ramirez was killed when attacked by rebels in the district of Pangoa, which is located in the jungle province of Satipo in Junin region in central Peru.
The army’s Special Command in the VRAEM said they were increasing their search for the attackers and have captured one person who is now being held by prosecutor’s office in Satipo.
Ramirez’ death is the latest of a number of officers who have been killed in the VRAEM by the Shining Path.
The area is known as Peru’s top-coca growing region. Revenue from the cocaine trade has allowed Shining Path remnants to survive and mutate from an ideologically-driven insurgency to major participants in the drug trade.
The last major assault by the Shining Path against Peruvian security forces came in April when 10 military and police officers were killed during an operation in the VRAEM. The operation was aimed at rescuing natural gas workers that had been kidnapped by the Shining Path. All hostages were later released unharmed.
Last week, local media reported that the rebels kidnapped two forestry technicians in the district of Vilcabamba, in Cusco region. Those workers were reportedly taken by Martin Quispe Palomino, a Shining Path leader known as Gabriel who was responsible for kidnapping the natural gas workers.
However, the chief of the joint command of the Armed Forces, Vice-Admiral José Cueto, said the technicians were missing, but had not been kidnapped.
