Hatun Asha ambush

2016 attacks in Santo Domingo de Acobamba and Llochegua
Part of the Internal conflict in Peru
Peruvian Army helicopters land in the VRAEM Area
LocationHatun Asha, Huancayo, Peru
Date10 April 2016 (PET)
Target311th Counterinsurgency Battalion convoy
Deaths9 soldiers
2 civilian contractors
Injured5 soldiers
PerpetratorShining Path members Jorge "Comrade Raul" Quispe and Abel "Comrade Alejandro" Auqui[1]

2016 attacks in Santo Domingo de Acobamba and Llochegua took place on the eve of the 2016 Peruvian general election,[2] when groups of Shining Path guerrilla fighters armed with long-range rifles and grenades, ambushed a Peruvian military caravan of eight vehicles at Hatun Asha.[3] The ambush began at approximately 5:00 (a.m.), when guerrillas targeted a Peruvian military patrol along a rural road within the Santo Domingo de Acobamba District, located in the District of Huancayo. The vehicles were transporting election ballots and related materials and their transport was handled by soldiers of the 311th Battalion of the Peruvian Armed Forces, who were tasked with guarding polling places in the central Junin region, while the patrol was also to serve in Lima. The ambush left a total of nine government soldiers and two civilian contractors dead as well as five others who escaped wounded.[4] Two hours after the attack, a second attack occurred in Mayapo, on the Llochegua District in Ayacucho, where one police officer was injured and taken to a hospital in Pichari.

The government responded with helicopters being called in to respond to the incident to hunt down the perpetrators, at the same time reassuring that elections would still take place, and that nothing had changed regarding them. The attack was condemned by various figures, including then president Ollanta Humala, and prominent politicians like Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Alan Garcia, Alejandro Toledo, and Verónika Mendoza.[5][6][7][8][9] It was also condemned by the Office of the Public Defender[10] and the Organization of American States.[10][11]

The ambush marked the deadliest Shining Path attack in years and a resurgence of the group to disrupt the Peruvian general elections.

  1. ^ "Peru's military kills key Shining Path commander". Peru Reports. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Six more bodies found, death toll in Peru ambush now stands at 10". Fox News Latino. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Shining Path ambush kills 10 on eve of Peru's election". Peru Reports. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Death toll climbs to 10 in Peru guerrilla attack". Business Standard. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Ollanta Humala sobre atentado terrorista en Junín: "No representa amenaza para el Estado" | Política | Peru21". 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  6. ^ CORREO, NOTICIAS (10 April 2016). "Verónika Mendoza: "Nadie en su sano juicio quiere que regrese el terrorismo" | EDICION". Correo.
  7. ^ OJO, NOTICIAS (9 April 2016). "Verónika Mendoza y PPK repudian emboscada terrorista en Junín | ACTUALIDAD". Ojo.
  8. ^ CORREO, NOTICIAS (10 April 2016). "Alan García tras ataque en Vraem: "¡pena de muerte de una vez para los terroristas!" | POLITICA". Correo.
  9. ^ LR, Redacción (9 April 2016). "Candidatos presidenciales rechazaron violencia terrorista en Junín". larepublica.pe.
  10. ^ a b "Junín: Emboscada terrorista a patrulla militar deja dos fallecidos | Nacional". 9 April 2016.
  11. ^ LR, Redacción (9 April 2016). "Misión de la OEA condena el atentado terrorista en Junín". larepublica.pe.