Argentina seeks clarity from Paraguay over deaths of two 11-year-old ‘rebels’

ASUNCION/BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) - Argentina asked for an explanation on Friday from Paraguay about the deaths in a police and military operation against a rebel group of two 11-year-old girls it said were Argentine citizens.

The Paraguayan government said on Wednesday a confrontation in the country’s north with members of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) had left two “rebels” dead.

The EPP, said to have been trained by Colombian rebels and active in marijuana-growing regions, has been accused of kidnappings and attacks in Paraguay over the past ten years.

On Friday, Paraguay said those killed had been two teenage women, without giving their age or nationality.

The Argentine foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday evening after receiving a request from Paraguay that it consulted the country’s national registry and established that the deceased were both eleven years old and Argentine citizens.

Federico Gonzalez, an advisor to the Paraguayan presidency, told reporters that Paraguay’s forensic report suggested the deceased were Paraguayan and older.

“The information we have is that these people were born in Paraguay and later transferred to Argentina, where they obtained these (identity) documents,” said Gonzalez.

He denounced the girls’ parents for “sending their children into battle with the security forces.”

Argentina’s foreign ministry said it was in touch with authorities in Paraguay, a landlocked nation with a population of around 7 million, to clarify the circumstances of the deaths.