SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Four indigenous people, including a child, were shot during an attack in southern Brazil late on Friday, federal police and an indigenous rights organization said on Saturday, as violence escalated in the region.
Police said attackers opened fire on an indigenous community near the city of Guaira in the southern state of Parana, wounding four people who were later taken to hospital.
The Missionary Council for Indigenous Peoples (CIMI), an organization linked to Brazil's Catholic Bishops' Conference, said the attack was aimed at the Ava Guarani people, who have been the target of previous assaults since December 29.
CIMI said a four-year-old boy was shot in the leg and sent to a nearby hospital in Toledo, along with two other people, one of whom was shot in the leg and the other in the back.
The entity said that a fourth person was shot in the jaw and was taken to a hospital in Cascavel, one of the largest cities in the state.
Police said they had launched investigations to track down the attackers, adding that federal, state and municipal security forces had been deployed to avoid new violence in the region, which has historically faced territorial conflicts.
CIMI said two members of the Ava Guarani tribe were injured in the final days of 2024, with one of them shot in the arm.
The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs condemned the violence against the Ava Guarani people, saying it was in talks with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to immediately investigate armed groups operating in the region.
