Police Murders Peru

Maoist guerrillas blew up a police van Friday, killing four policemen and wounding five during a one-day strike, police sources said. The rebel-called strike, which left millions of Peruvians struggling to find transportation to get to work, was part of the Maoist Shining Path's strategy to shift its activity from the traditional highland strongholds to the capital. Friday's deaths brought the toll in the weeklong offensive to 16.

Maoist guerrillas blew up a police van Friday, killing four policemen and wounding five during a one-day strike, police sources said. The rebel-called strike, which left millions of Peruvians struggling to find transportation to get to work, was part of the Maoist Shining Path's strategy to shift its activity from the traditional highland strongholds to the capital. Friday's deaths brought the toll in the weeklong offensive to 16.

A military prosecutor ordered the arrest of Peru's national police chief and the directors of two other police agencies for negligence in last week's escape of a guerrilla leader, in which two policemen were killed in Lima.

A military prosecutor ordered the arrest of Peru's national police chief and the directors of two other police agencies for negligence in last week's escape of a guerrilla leader, in which two policemen were killed in Lima.

Riot police wounded five people and arrested at least 270 protesters when a nationwide general strike in Peru flared into street clashes and induced leftist guerrilla violence, officials and strike leaders said. The 48-hour general strike was launched to protest government economic policy. Strikers and student sympathizers blocked main arteries leading into Lima with bonfires and rocks but were driven off by police using tear gas and firing water cannons, reporters said.

Maoist guerrillas assassinated a police investigator at the door of his home as he celebrated the New Year's holiday with his 8-year-old daughter, police said Saturday. The officer was shot once in the head and twice in the back by three assailants, who fled without injuring the daughter. The Mao-inspired rebels are members of the Shining Path group, which seeks to topple Peru's elected government and install a worker-peasant state.

Riot police wounded five people and arrested at least 270 protesters when a nationwide general strike in Peru flared into street clashes and induced leftist guerrilla violence, officials and strike leaders said. The 48-hour general strike was launched to protest government economic policy. Strikers and student sympathizers blocked main arteries leading into Lima with bonfires and rocks but were driven off by police using tear gas and firing water cannons, reporters said.

Maoist guerrillas assassinated a police investigator at the door of his home as he celebrated the New Year's holiday with his 8-year-old daughter, police said Saturday. The officer was shot once in the head and twice in the back by three assailants, who fled without injuring the daughter. The Mao-inspired rebels are members of the Shining Path group, which seeks to topple Peru's elected government and install a worker-peasant state.