Three police officers in southern Chile were ambushed and killed by armed assailants before their car was set on fire, raising security concerns in the country. President Gabriel Boric condemned the attack as “cowardly” and declared three days of national mourning to honor the fallen officers.
Boric expressed the nation’s grief and determination to find the perpetrators of this heinous crime. The officers were responding to false emergency calls when they were attacked with heavy-calibre weapons and burned inside their patrol vehicle near Concepcion.
While the culprits remain unknown, tensions between the Mapuche Indigenous community and landowners have escalated in the region. The government had to impose a state of emergency and deploy the military for security due to the conflict.
About one in 10 Chileans identify as Mapuche, a tribe that resisted Spanish conquest and now faces poverty as large companies control their ancestral lands. Boric visited the area to offer condolences and assure the families that justice will be served.
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