Hatun Asha ambush

Hatun Asha ambush
Part of the Internal conflict in Peru
Peruvian army helicopter responding to incident in VRAEM Valley (2013)
Date April 10, 2016 Location Hatun Asha, Santo Domingo de Acobamba District, Huancayo province
Belligerents
Military of Peru 311th Counterinsurgency Battalion	Shining Path guerilla fighters
Commanders and leaders
President Ollanta Humala General Jorge Moscoso (Joint Armed Forces Command)	Jorge "Comrade Raul" Quispe Abel "Comrade Alejandro" Auqui[1]
Casualties and losses
11	?

The Hatun Asha ambush took place on the eve of the 2016 Peruvian general election.^[2]

Bands 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 Acobamba district. The vehicles were transporting election material and the 311th battalion soldiers 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] Government helicopters were called in to respond to the incident and hunt down the perpetrators.

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

References

2. "Six more bodies found, death toll in Peru ambush now stands at 10". Fox News Latino. 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
3. "Shining Path ambush kills 10 on eve of Peru's election". Peru Reports. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
4. "Death toll climbs to 10 in Peru guerrilla attack". Retrieved 2016-04-11.