Peru's Army Removes Explosives Placed Near Key Gas Pipeline

   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 [e-mail]

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