20 Die As Soldiers, Rebels Battle

Twenty people were killed and nearly 30 wounded in a clash between soldiers and guerrillas in Peru’s eastern jungle region, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

The battle occurred Sunday near the town of Aucayacu, 230 miles northeast of Lima, in the department of Huanuco, the ministry said. The area is in the Upper Huallaga Valley, a coca-growing region that is a stronghold of the Shining Path guerrillas.

The military said 15 Shining Path guerrillas, whom it called “narcoterrorists,” and five soldiers were killed. Ten soldiers and about 18 rebels were wounded, it said.

The brief communique gave few details of the battle.

A reporter for the Radioprogramas radio station reported that the battle occurred on a highway in the early evening and lasted an hour.