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Protests in Lima: For weeks people in Peru have been taking to the streets against the government
Photo: Paolo Aguilar/EPA
The government crisis in Peru is ongoing, and the country has been shaken by protests since December.
Now the government reports the death of several soldiers.
Six soldiers were swept away by a river while fleeing violent demonstrators.
Four of them drowned, the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday.
The search for two missing soldiers continues.
The patrol was reportedly on Sunday on its way to the city of July, where protests on Saturday left 16 people injured.
According to the army, she was intercepted by hundreds of protesters and attacked with stones.
The soldiers then took a different route that required them to cross the Ilave River.
Peru has been rocked by serious unrest for weeks.
The nationwide protests are directed against the impeachment and arrest of left-wing President Pedro Castillo in December.
The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Castillo's successor Dina Boluarte and the dissolution of parliament and new elections.
At least 52 people have died in connection with the protests and more than 600 have been injured.
Boluarte was Castillo's vice president prior to his impeachment and succeeded him under the Peruvian constitution.
She belongs to the same left party as Castillo.
However, demonstrators see her as a "traitor".
asc/Reuters/AP