Clashes between PCP-SL and Rondas Asháninka in Central Jungle
In 1991-1992 there were intense confrontations between the PCP-SL and the Rondas Asháninka in the Central Jungle, marking the breaking point of the Shining Path offensive. The Asháninka communities organized in Self-Defense Committees, together with the Armed Forces, started a counter-offensive that hit the PCP-SL hard in the Tambo and Ene rivers.
During 1991 and 1992 there were strong and continuous confrontations between the PCP-SL and the Rondas or Asháninka Self-Defense Committees in the Central Jungle. The year 1991 was the turning point in the Shining Path offensive in the region, when the Armed Forces together with the organized Asháninka population initiated an important counter-offensive. The native communities of Bajo Tambo, under the leadership of Poyeni, formed the 'Asháninka Army' or Poyeni round in September 1990, after the assassination of the leader Pablo Santoma. In 1991, the Peruvian Army installed a military base in Cutivireni and an Asháninka Self-Defense Committee was formed. Between 1991 and 1993, the counter-subversive struggle intensified with joint operations between the Army and the ronderos in the Tambo and Ene river valleys, hitting the PCP-SL hard, especially in the Ene river area.