LIMA, Peru -- Peruvian security forces rescued 54 adults and children, mostly members of the Ashaninka indigenous group, being held captive by Shining Path rebels in a remote jungle region, an official said Saturday.
Anti-terrorism police chief Gen. Jose Baella said some of the adults were kidnapped between 20 and 30 years ago from Puerto Ocopa and nearby towns back when the rebel movement was still strong.
Baella said the women were used to produce child soldiers for the guerrillas and grow crops for them. The oldest of the 34 children was 14, he said.
The group was rescued by a special force unit of soldiers and police in helicopter-borne missions.
The rescued group was living in various camps in thick jungle with a 150-foot canopy in a place called Sector Cinco in Rio Tambo in the province of Pangoa, Baella said.
Two young Shining Path deserters who were raised in the camps led authorities to them, he said.
Baella said the operation further weakens an already debilitated Shining Path, whose principal funding source is cocaine trafficking.
A Section on 08/02/2015