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 group said on Saturday, as violence in the region escalated.
The attackers opened fire on an indigenous community near the town of Guaira, in the southern state of Parana, wounding four people who were later hospitalized, police said.
The attack targeted the Avá Guarani people, who have been the target of previous attacks since Dec. 29, said the Missionary Council for Indigenous Peoples (CIMI), an organization affiliated with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Brazil.
A four-year-old child shot in the leg was sent to a nearby hospital in the city of Toledo, along with two other people, one shot in the leg and the other in the back, CIMI said.
The entity said a fourth person, shot in the jaw, was sent to a hospital in Cascavel, one of the country’s largest cities.
Police said they had launched an investigation to track down the attackers, adding that federal, state and municipal security forces had been deployed to avoid further violence in the region, which has historically faced land conflicts.
Two members of the Avá Guarani people were injured in the last days of 2024, CIMI said, and one was shot in the arm.
The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs has condemned acts of violence against the Avá Guarani people, saying it is in talks with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to urgently investigate armed groups operating in the region.
