Attack on Pampacancha
In August 1984, following the withdrawal of the Marines in April, Shining Path attacked Pampacancha with the support of poorly armed peasants, killing 40 people. The attack was a reprisal against the community that had been organized by the Navy into Civil Defense Committees.
In February 1984, the Marines considered Pampacancha sufficiently well organized and withdrew to train another community. When the Marines withdrew again in April 1984, Sendero Luminoso, with the support of hundreds of poorly armed peasants, launched a new devastating attack against Pampacancha. In this attack 40 men and women were killed. The attack occurred in the context of the Marines' strategy of organizing Civil Defense Committees and then withdrawing, leaving the communities vulnerable to PCP-SL reprisals.