Lima-Miraflores July 16.1992 Peru
In the most desolating incident on July 16 among all terror incidents in Lima
that day, two car bombs, loaded with at least 1,000 kilograms of explosives,
rocked the busy, upscale shopping district of Miraflores at 9:15 pm when many
people were still on the streets. The bombs' impact killed 24 people, wounded
nearly 200, of whom 90 had to be hospitalized. Flying glass caused most of
the injuries because explosions shattered windows in a 15- block radius. An
estimated 300 families were left homeless.
Over four months after July 1992, at least 22 car and truck bombs have resulted
in 52 people killed, 1000 injuries and $250 million in damages. The size of
the explosives and targeting has escalated as SL ("Sendero Luminoso"
– "Shining Path") has perfected its methods.
Police bomb squads detected about a dozen additional vehicles loaded with
explosives and disarmed them. Sendero combines dynamite with anfo, a home-made
mixture of ammonia nitrate.
By concentrating forces for coordinated attacks, Sendero magnifies its impact
on the public.
According to some Lima sources, Sendero has started talking about entering
a phase of "total war." (1992)
It no longer makes any effort to minimize the loss of civilian lives.
Former university professor Abimael Guzman formed SL in Peru in the late 1960s,
and his teachings created the foundation of SL’s militant Maoist doctrine.
In the 1980s, SL became one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the Western
Hemisphere approximately 30,000 persons have died since Shining Path took
up arms in 1980. The Peruvian Government made dramatic gains against SL during
the 1990s, but reports of recent SL involvement in narcotrafficking and kidnapping
for ransom indicate it may have a new source of funding with which to sustain
a resurgence. Its stated goal is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions
and replace them with a communist peasant revolutionary regime. It also opposes
any infl uence by foreign governments. In January 2003, Peruvian courts granted
approximately 1,900 members the right to request retrials in a civilian
court, including the imprisoned top leadership. Counterterrorist operations
targeted pockets of terrorist activity in the Upper Huallaga River Valley
and the Apurimac/Ene River Valley, where SL columns continued to conduct periodic
attacks. Peruvian authorities captured several SL members in 2003.
