At least 17 dead in deadliest day of anti-government protests in Peru

FILE PHOTO: Peruvian police officers operate as demonstrators hold a protest demanding early elections and the release of Peruvian ousted leader Pedro Castillo, in Juliaca, Peru January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Hugo Courotto NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

LIMA/JULIACA (Reuters) -At least 17 people were killed in clashes with police in southern Peru, the country's human rights office said on Monday, the deadliest day so far of protests demanding early elections and the release of jailed former president Pedro Castillo.

The clashes occurred in Juliaca, a city near the banks of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru's Puno region, and left 68 people injured, Henry Rebaza, a Puno health ministry official, told the state-run television channel TV Peru. The dead included at least two teenagers, according to the ministry.