LIMA, (Reuters) – Peru’s first major hostage-taking in a decade was a ruse to lure soldiers into a remote jungle valley and kill them in ambushes, said the Shining Path rebel who led the kidnappings of 36 gas workers.
Martin Quispe Palomino said in television footage broadcast yesterday the rebels suffered no casualties but killed six soldiers and police over the weekend. The rebels released the workers on Saturday, six days after they were taken hostage near a natural gas field.
The rebels also shot down a helicopter that was flown by local police and owned by the United States, which funds anti-drug work in Peru, the world’s top cocaine exporter.
Quispe Palomino, who is known as Comrade Gabriel and had never before shown his face to the media, scoffed at promises by President Ollanta Humala to eliminate the remnant band of Maoist rebels.
