They kill a general and six soldiers during an anti-terrorist operation

Four soldiers, including a general, and two policemen were killed in an ambush in the state of Aragua, in north-central Venezuela. The bloody episode occurs amid tensions between the opposition and the Chavez government. The murdered general belongs to the National Guard and was on a search mission of a terrorist cell, he was known.

A General of the National Guard yesterday led an operation led by 25 soldiers and five police officers in La Guacamaya, in the Zamora municipality of Aragua State. The operation followed an alleged "terrorist attack" on a ranch. Upon their return, they were ambushed by an armed group and the six soldiers were annihilated. A police report published in the online version of the El Universal newspaper indicates that the general killed is Jackson Silva Zapata, director of the Troop Training School. With him, three non-commissioned officers and two policemen died.

"When they returned (from the operation), they were intercepted by heavily armed individuals who had not yet been identified, who, without using words and taking advantage of the relief in the area, have drawn on the commission, "according to the report. The serious episode occurred in a forested area of ​​the road that connects the towns of Magdaleno and Palo Negro, where the Venezuelan armed forces run an agricultural unit.

It was not indicated if uniforms were deprived of their regulatory firearms. No military authority ruled on the event, reported the EFE news agency.

Criminal violence is common in Venezuela, a country that suffers from an "epidemic", according to the NGO Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia (OVV). According to this NGO, 23,047 people died of violent acts in 2018, the majority with firearms, with an average of 81.4 violent deaths per 100,000 population. Aragua State, last year, was Venezuela's most violent region, with 168 homicides per 100,000 population.

In addition, a Venezuelan army helicopter was stranded in the municipality of El Hatillo, in Caracas, with 7 crew members on board.