La Paz: Nearly 30 people were injured Tuesday in clashes between Bolivian police and supporters of ex-president Evo Morales, the government said.
The violence unfolded in the central town of Mairana, one of many places where protesters have been blocking roads since October 14 in solidarity with Morales, hoping to prevent his arrest.
Twenty-nine people were hurt, all but two of them police, said Health Minister Maria Rene Castro.
The police chief of Santa Cruz department, which includes Mairana, told reporters the police came under attack by some of the protesters.
Morales, who governed Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, is under investigation for rape, human trafficking and smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.
He claims the charges were trumped up to try prevent him returning to power. His mainly Indigenous base of supporters say he is the victim of judicial persecution by President Luis Arce, a former ally who has become a political rival.
They are also protesting the spiralling prices of fuel and food in the South American country.
The standoff between Morales and Arce escalated dramatically on Sunday after Morales accused state agents of trying to assassinate him while driving near the central city of Cochabamba.
A video posted on social media showed the pick-up truck in which he was traveling riddled with bullet holes and the driver with blood on his head.
The government says police fired on his vehicle after it ran a checkpoint and police came under gunfire from a vehicle in Morales’s convoy.
Nearly 30 injured in Bolivia clashes between police, Morales supporters
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Nearly 30 injured in Bolivia clashes between police, Morales supporters
- Twenty-nine people were hurt, all but two of them police, said Health Minister Maria Rene Castro
Australia police detain 7 men suspected to have ideological links to Bondi Beach gunmen
- Government to launch gun buyback scheme in bid to prevent further violence
- Prime minister announces ‘day of reflection’ one week after attack
SYDNEY: Australian police said that seven men detained in Sydney’s southwest on Thursday had ideological connections to the two gunmen who allegedly fired at hundreds celebrating Hanukkah in Bondi Beach, killing 15 people.
“We don’t have definitive links between the individuals who committed these atrocities on Sunday and this yesterday apart from potential commonality in some thinking, but no associations at this stage,” New South Wales state Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told ABC Radio on Friday.
Investigations were at an initial stage, Hudson said, adding one of the locations the group was planning to visit was Bondi.
Amid an outcry over the latest gun violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that the government will launch a national gun buyback scheme to encourage civilians to get rid of their guns.
“We expect hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed through this scheme,” Albanese told a news conference.
Albanese also said Australia will hold a national “day of reflection” one week after the mass shooting.
“This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief,” Albanese said as he declared Australia would honor the attack’s 15 victims on Sunday, December 21.
