Brazil suspends raid on illegal miners in Amazon indigenous land

FILE PHOTO: Machines are destroyed at an illegal mine during an operation conducted by agents of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, or Ibama, in national parks near Novo Progresso, southeast of Para state, Brazil, November 4, 2018. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Defense Ministry on Thursday suspended operations by environmental agents against illegal miners on an indigenous reservation in the Amazon, saying it was acting at the request of Munduruku tribe members who wanted mining on their land.

The raid by environmental protection agency Ibama began on Wednesday, destroying excavators and water pumps used by wildcat miners prospecting for gold on rivers inside the reservation in Para state.