LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian authorities captured two most-wanted leaders of the “Shining Path” rebel group, accused of coordinating attacks which have left nearly two dozen people dead over the past two years, President Dina Boluarte said Thursday.
“These captures constitute a heavy blow to terrorism,” Boluarte said in a speech, congratulating the security forces behind the capture at a ceremony at a Lima police base.
The two leaders, identified as Carlos Zuniga and “Yohel,” were captured Wednesday in the Andean region of Ayacucho, where the Shining Path was founded.
The Maoist group first launched a campaign of guerilla warfare intended to overthrow the government in 1980, leading to 20 years of brutal conflict with the armed forces, which left 69,000 dead or missing, according to official figures.
Boluarte said the two captured leaders had participated in some of the “most reprehensible” attacks in recent years, including one in May 2021 where 16 people were killed shortly before the second round of presidential elections.
They were also behind an ambush last February which left seven police officers dead in Cusco, where police say the Shining Path and drug traffickers work together.
The incident was the deadliest single attack on police in more than a decade, officials said.
The Shining Path was largely destroyed in the 1990s as top leaders were captured, though some followers chose to withdraw into remote Andean zones where they sporadically attack Peru’s security forces.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry)
