Peruvian police arrest Maoist rebel leader
Police in Peru have arrested the leader of The Shining Path, a Maoist rebel group that has links to the drug trade in the country. Edgar Mejia (aka Comrade Izula) was arrested on Wednesday, and police reportedly killed two guerrilla fighters in the operation. Mejia is thought to have commanded two guerrilla attacks on police in the last few years that led to the death of 11 police officers. The Shining Path were in a de facto civil war with the Peruvian government in the '80s and '90s, but large-scale arrests have toned down the group's might, although they still control the Alto Huallaga, the Ene and Apurimac River Valleys, where most of Peru's coca is grown. Read more: Reuters
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