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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Peru Gunmen Seize Police Station |
| 2005-01-02 |
| Gunmen belonging to a nationalist group that seized a police station in remote southern Peru ambushed a police vehicle responding to the scene Sunday, killing four officers and wounding several more, hospital officials said. One gunman was gravely wounded. The shooting started before dawn on a bridge on the other side of town from the captured police station in Andahuaylas, 275 miles southeast of Lima, Radioprogramas radio reported. The station was seized Saturday by followers of Antauro Humala, a retired army major who, along with his brother, seeks to establish a nationalist indigenous movement modeled on the ancient Incan Empire. The attackers demanded the resignation of President Alejandro Toledo. At least seven people were wounded in a shootout during the takeover early Saturday and brought to Lima. "This is a military protest and we are willing to lay down our arms and surrender when Toledo resigns from office," Antauro Humala told Radioprogramas Radio from the captured police station in Andahuaylas on Saturday. Toledo, who refused that demand, declared a 30-day state of emergency in the remote Andean province. He cut short a holiday trip to convene a Cabinet meeting on the crisis. |
| Posted by:Fred |