8 troops killed in suspected rebel attack in north Paraguay

ASUNCION, Paraguay — Suspected members of a little-known rebel group killed eight soldiers in an attack in northern Paraguay on Saturday, just days after guerrillas and officials in Colombia reached a peace deal to end the longest-running insurgency in Latin America.

Paraguayan Interior Minister Francisco De Vargas reported the first five deaths from the attack in Arroyito, a town about 305 miles (490 kilometres) from Asuncion. Dr. Bernardo Jacquet, a physician at Hospital Concepcion, located some 55 miles (90 kilometres) from where the attack occurred, later said the death toll had risen to eight.

Authorities suspect the attack was carried out by a little-known Paraguayan guerrilla group called the Paraguayan People’s Army.

Federico Delfino, the country’s prosecutor for anti-kidnapping efforts, said the attackers got away with eight M4 carbines, bulletproof vests and the victims’ personal belongings.