‘Uncontacted’ Indigenous group attacks loggers in the Peruvian Amazon

Members of an "uncontacted" Indigenous group used bows and arrows to attack loggers in the Peruvian Amazon in a confrontation that left at least one person injured, according to a local Indigenous organisation.

The incident came just weeks after more than 50 men and boys from the isolated group known as the Mashco Piro made a rare appearance on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon.

Campaigners warn that the Mashco Piro are under siege from logging activity - both illegal and legal - and the latest clashes are likely to increase calls for the government to finally demarcate their ancestral territory after years of conflict.

"This is a permanent emergency," said Teresa Mayo, Peru researcher for Survival International, an NGO that promotes Indigenous rights, which released images of the Mashco Piro last month. "It is very tense in the zone. Everyone there is afraid," she said of the area where logging concessions border the 829,941-hectare (2m-acre) Madre de Dios territorial reserve, a protected area where the tribe lives.

The violent clash reportedly occurred in an illegal logging camp outside the reserve along the Pariamanú River on 27 July. However, other details remain unclear amid reports that two other loggers may have lost their lives. It is not known if any of the Mashco Piro were killed in the incident.

The regional Indigenous organization Fenamad, which represents 39 communities in Peru's Cusco and Madre de Dios regions, reported the incident and said it provided evidence to the Peruvian government.

Peru's culture ministry, which is responsible for Indigenous rights, did not respond to repeated requests for information.