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 organization said on Saturday, as violence escalates in the region.
Attackers opened fire against the Indigenous community near the city of Guaira, in the southern Parana state, injuring four people, later hospitalized, the police said.
The attack was aimed at the Avá Guarani people, who have been the target of previous assaults since Dec. 29, the Missionary Council for Indigenous Peoples (CIMI), an organization linked to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Brazil, said.
A four-year-old child shot in the leg was sent to a nearby hospital in the city of Toledo, alongside two other people, one hit in the leg and the other in the back, said CIMI.
The entity said a fourth person, shot in the jaw, was sent to a hospital in Cascavel, one of the largest cities in the state.
Police said it has started investigations to track down the attackers, adding that federal, state and municipal security forces were deployed to avoid new violence in the region, that has historically faced land conflicts.
Two members of the Avá Guarani people were injured in the last days of 2024, said CIMI, with one having been shot in the arm.
The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs condemned the acts of violence against the Avá Guarani people, saying it is in talks with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security for the immediate investigation of armed groups acting in the region.