Guatemala mayor says 13 killed in army ambush over land dispute, contradicting official toll of five dead and naming victims aged 14 to 70
GUATEMALA CITY: Clashes in the Indigenous Guatemalan town of Nahuala have left 13 people dead, the local mayor said on Sunday.
Mayor Manuel Garchaj blamed the Guatemalan army for the incident, contradicting the government’s official toll of five dead.
“Thirteen people were brutally killed in an ambush carried out by the Guatemalan army and people from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan,” Garchaj told AFP.
Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan are neighbouring Maya communities in the Solola department west of Guatemala City.
The two towns have fought for more than a century over a disputed boundary, with several deaths in recent years.
Garchaj said those killed were between 14 and 70 years old and were attacked while working at a local quarry.
Two days of mourning have been declared in Nahuala, where burials were already underway.
“We’re not making anything up here. I’m only speaking the truth,” Garchaj said in a phone call.
During the call, he read out the names and ages of those slain. – AFP
