Peruvian army almost caught Shining Path chief

Troops and police shot dead on 3 March a communist Shining Path rebel and were believed to have almost caught the rebel force's third-in-command Jorge Luis Quispe Palomino or Comrade Raúl, Europa Press and the daily Peru21 reported. Troops entered the camp in the locality of Vizcatán in the province of Huanta east of Lima after a gun battle that killed a female rebel - Comrade Luisa - identified as one of Raúl's bodyguards. The camp, in a region called VRAEM (Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro) considered the Shining Path's stronghold, was reportedly of a permanent nature for its solid structures. Troops were fanning this area between 22 February and 1 March and appeared to have entered the camp in that time; on 14 February the government declared it would send troops into the VRAEM to eradicate drugs, Europa Press reported. Separately a soldier was shot dead at or near an army base in the Huanta province, in an undated attack attributed to the Shining Path, El Correo reported on 4 March. The soldier was reported shot from the jungle while on guard or patrol duty at a base by the river Mantaro in the district of Llochegua.