Maoist Rebels Kill 3; Peru Extends Emergency Decree
Maoist guerrillas shot and killed three players at an amateur soccer match, police reported Monday, and the government announced it is prolonging an anti-guerrilla state of emergency.
Police said a group of Shining Path guerrillas disrupted a soccer match Sunday between neighboring villages in Cullpa, on Huancayo’s western outskirts, and ordered 100 spectators and players to attend a lecture in the village square. The three men were shot when they refused to go along, police said.
Extension of the state of emergency comes during the deadliest reign of violence so far in Peru’s nine-year fight against leftist guerrillas. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed this year, including 86 on Friday.
The extension take force when the current decree expires Wednesday. It affects Lima and parts of seven highland and jungle states where more than half of Peru’s 21 million people live.
The decree suspends citizens’ rights to travel and meet freely, and permits government forces to conduct searches without warrants and hold suspects for 15 days without filing charges.
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