2 Peru Copters Reported Down in Border Clash

Two Peruvian helicopters were reportedly shot down Sunday, as Ecuadorean officials accused Peru of mounting a “massive offensive” along a disputed border.

Seven Peruvians were reportedly killed in the downing of the first craft. A spokesman for the Ecuadorean National Defense Ministry said two Peruvians were captured when the second helicopter was downed.

Four days of clashes between the two Andean countries have centered on a disputed, unmarked 50-mile stretch of their 1,000-mile border.

The Ecuadorean military command in Quito said Peruvian forces on Sunday attacked bases at Soldado Monge, Teniente Hugo Ortiz, Coangos and Cueva de los Tayos with planes, helicopters and mortars.

Peruvian radio reported that a squadron of air force jets had taken off from the northern city of Piura in the direction of the conflict and that other pilots were awaiting flying orders.

In Quito, Ecuadorean President Sixto Duran Ballen said, “We are not going to retreat.” He said the border bases under attack “are on Ecuadorean soil.”

Peruvian officials say the area where fighting has occurred is within Peru, according to a map agreed upon in the 1942 Protocol of Rio de Janeiro, which ended a 1941 war between Ecuador and Peru over the entire border. Ecuador contends it lost almost half its territory with the signing of the protocol, and it later declared the territorial limits set by the agreement to be void.