The 4th Army Division () is a combined infantry division unit of the
Peruvian Army
The Peruvian Army (, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in s ...
(EP) that specialized in combat patrol in mountain forest terrain, combined arms, counterinsurgency, military engineering, and jungle warfare.
History
The unit was officially established by the
Peruvian Joint Command as the VRAE Military Region () on 13 March 2008.
Its jurisdiction is limited to the
Apurímac–Ene Valley Area, having been specifically created in order to deal with
narcoterrorism
Narcoterrorism, in its original context, is understood to refer to the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws b ...
and
cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
production in the area, where much of the drug trade is controlled by remants of the
Shining Path
The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...
guerrilla group.
[ The unit acquired its current name in 2013.][
In 2016, on the eve of that year's ]general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
, the division's 311th Counterinsurgency Battalion, part of the 31st Infantry Brigade, was ambushed by Shining Path insurgents, leaving 11 dead and 5 wounded.
The unit's coat of arms features two crossed Galil rifles.
Organization
The 4th Army Division is formed by the following units:
See also
* 1st Army Division
* 2nd Army Division
* 3rd Army Division
* 5th Army Division
References
{{reflist
Military units and formations of Peru