'Shining Path' kills 12 in Peru

The Peruvian defense minister visited with
soldiers wounded when ambushed by the Shining Path guerrilla group. The
soldiers were operating in a key coca growing area.
Suspected members of the Shining Path
guerrilla's killed 12 Peruvian soldiers and wounded 14 others in an ambush near the mountain town
of Tayacaja in southern Peru last Friday. Peruvian Defense Minister Antero Flores Araoz
visited the wounded troops, he says the troops are "performing well". Antero Flores Araoz, Peruvian Defense Minister: "When this type of desperate action is
taken it is because the armed forces are performing well...We want for the
focus on terrorism to cease to exist". President Alan Garcia's approval rating has
fallen to an all-time low as he attempts to destroy the guerrilla group. Including the latest attack, about three dozen
police, soldiers and anti-narcotics workers have been killed since Garcia began
his term The government says the guerrillas have mostly
abandoned their Maoist ideology in favor of running drugs Peru is the world's second largest producer of
cocoa, the raw ingredient in cocaine, after Colombia.