Election-eve guerrilla attack in Peru kills seven, with authorities blaming Shining Path remnants

A guerrilla attack on Peruvian soldiers on the eve of the country’s presidential elections killed seven people, authorities said Sunday, raising the previous day’s toll.

The head of the state prosecution service, Pablo Sanchez, said in a televised address that five people were also wounded in Saturday’s attack in the jungles of central Peru.

The military earlier gave a toll of four killed - three soldiers and a civilian. They said guerrillas attacked a military convoy that was transporting electoral material and forces to guard voting stations in the central Junin region.

Authorities blamed remnants of the Shining Path communist guerrilla group, which was largely crushed in the 1990s but still has members hiding in the jungle.

The army said attackers first struck at Hatun Asha, located in a jungle zone considered a stronghold of the guerrillas and a major coca-producing area.

In a second attack, they targeted a military ship on the Apurimac River in the south, wounding two soldiers, authorities said.