LIMA, Peru - Clashes between police and local residents protesting construction of the $7.4 billion Las Bambas copper mine project has left two people dead and 18 injured in Peru's southern Andes.
Percy Jeronimo, night supervisor of the health post in the nearby town of Challhuahuacho, said two protesters were killed by bullets and 18 local residents were wounded by gunfire in Monday's violence.
President Ollanta Humala said the clash occurred when protesters entered an area owned by the group behind the project.
Lawmaker Antonio Medina told Radioprogramas station that protesters oppose construction of a mineral concentrates processing plant in Challhuahuacho, which has about 20,000 inhabitants.
Las Bambas is Peru biggest mining project and is owned by a consortium led by Chinese state giant China Minmetals Corp.