Peruvian rainforest defender killed returning from environmental workshop

A Kichwa tribal leader has been shot to death in an area of the Peruvian rainforest that's seen high tensions between Indigenous people and illegal loggers.

Quinto Inuma Alvarado was attacked as he was returning from presenting at a workshop for women environmental leaders in the San Martín region of the Amazon on Wednesday, his son, Kevin Arnol Inuma Mandruma, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Peruvian police confirmed his death.

"He was travelling in a boat," when assailants blocked the river with a tree trunk, Kevin Inuma said. "There were many shots fired."