By Ryan Dube
LIMA, Peru--Peru's army has removed explosives that were placed
near a key gas pipeline running through a remote jungle area rife
with heavily-armed rebels.
The Joint Command of the Armed Forces said in a statement Monday
that six explosives were placed near the pipeline that transports
gas from the Camisea fields in southeastern Peru to the Pacific
coast. The statement said the explosives were discovered over the
weekend by an army patrol in the valley of the Apurimac, Ene and
Mantaro rivers, an isolated area known as the VRAEM that is home to
remnants of the Shining Path rebels.
The Shining Path was largely defeated in the 1990s, but a
splinter group continues to operate in the VRAEM where it regularly
attacks state security personnel and has also targeted the
private-sector.
The army said the Shining Path setup the explosives in order to
kill soldiers or civilians working on the pipeline. It added five
of the explosives were removed, while one was destroyed.
The pipeline is key to Peru's energy security as it supplies
about 50% of the feedstock for the nation's electricity
generation.
A lack of security in the VRAEM has been a major concern for the
pipeline's operator, Transportadora de Gas del Peru. Last year the
consortium suspended maintenance on the pipeline and stopped work
on a compressor plant to increase the pipeline's transport capacity
following high-profile attacks by the Shining Path.
The rebels kidnapped 36 contract workers last year and later
killed about 10 police and military officers sent into the area on
a rescue mission. They also attacked a jungle airstrip in the
region, burning three helicopters used by Transportadora de Gas del
Peru.
Transportadora de Gas del Peru is made up of Tecgas NV of
Argentina, Hunt Oil of the United States, Sonatrach of Algeria,
Argentina's Pluspetrol, South Korea's SK Corporation,
Franco-Belgian GDF Suez-Tractebel SA and Peru's Grana y Montero SAA
(GRAMONC1.VL).
Write to Ryan Dube at ryan.dube@dowjones.com
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