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

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. At least 17 people were killed in clashes with police in southern Peru, Reuters reported citing the country's human rights office.

Protesters are demanding early elections and the release of jailed former president Pedro Castillo.

68 people were injured in the clashed that occurred in Juliaca, a city near the banks of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru's Puno region.

The latest casualties raise the death toll from anti-government clashes with security forces to 39 since the protests began in early December following the removal and arrest of Castillo shortly after he tried to illegally dissolve Congress, according to Reuters.

Castillo is serving 18 months of pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion, which he denies.