15 Indians shot dead in Amazon jungle

Ecuador, Feb 14: At least fifteen Huaorani Indians who were living in voluntary isolation in Ecuador's largest nature reserve were shot dead by loggers, according to Huaorani Nationality Organization of Ecuador. The police, however, had "no information" about the incident, an official spokesman said. The Health Director of Huaorani Nationality Organization of Ecuador, Saul Quimutari, told a foreign news agency that a member of the Tagaeri and Taromenanes tribes informed that Colombian loggers had gunned down 15 Indians on Sunday.

Two Huaorani leaders are on their way to the area to investigate into the matter, Quimutari said. Yasuni, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, does not allow logging. It has large quantities of mahogany and other trees valued as lumber. According to reports, the jungle area holds close to an estimated one billion barrels of crude, and President Rafael Correa's Government is seeking a minimum of 350 million dollars a year from the international community over 10 years in return for not drilling in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha fields there.

ANI