70,000 victims of war between rebels and state, says Peru truth commission

NEARLY 70,000 people were slain in Peru’s 20-year war against Shining Path guerrillas, according to a truth commission report the government hopes will help the nation in coming to terms with its past.

Although the volume report, delivered to the government on Thursday, blamed the guerrillas for the majority of the deaths, it also cited abuses by security forces, responsible for up to one third of the killings.

The commission was formed in June 2001 to shed light on the atrocities that occurred from May 1980 to November 2000 during the fighting between government security forces, leftist rebels and militias. Most of the fighting occurred in remote Andean areas.