The leader of a small but violent left-wing rebel group which has been terrorising rural communities in Paraguay has been killed in a clash with soldiers, officials say.
Osvaldo Villalba was the leader of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), which has carried out a string of killings and kidnappings in Paraguay.
Among those being held by the EPP is the country’s former Vice-President, Óscar Denis.
He was kidnapped in September 2020.
Army officials told reporters that soldiers had come across the rebels on Sunday after they heard gunshots while on patrol in Amambay province.
When they arrived at the scene of the shooting they found two indigenous people had been killed and a third injured by the rebels. An army spokesman said it was not clear why the rebels had attacked the indigenous men but the two groups have in the past clashed over the recruitment of indigenous children by the EPP.
Credit: bbc.com
