Reuters. At least 12 people died following clashes in Juliaca in southern Peru, the regional health ministry said on Monday (January 9), after a resumption of protests demanding early elections and the release of jailed former President Pedro Castillo.
The dead included two teenagers, the ministry said.
The latest casualties take the death toll from anti-government clashes with security forces to 34 since the protests began in early December following the removal and arrest of Castillo shortly after he tried to illegally dissolve Congress.
Castillo is serving 18 months of pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion, which he denies.
At least 38 people had been injured and hospitalised in Juliaca, the ministry added in a statement published on Facebook.
In Juliaca, near the banks of Lake Titicaca in Peru's southern Puno region, protesters took cover behind large metal plates and road signs and threw rocks at police using improvised sling-shots as gunshots were seeing in the background.
Other footage showed people with severe injuries in a crowded in Carlos Monge Medrano hospital.
An unidentified injured local in the hospital said he took his camera to film the clashes in the street when a police officer shot him in the foot and fell on the floor.
The protests resumed last week after a holiday lull.
Apart from early elections and the release of Castillo, protestors are calling for the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, closure of Congress and changes to the constitution.
