GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana on Thursday demanded that Venezuela investigate what it said were two recent shootings targeting Guyanese troops along their shared border, including one that wounded a soldier.
A protest note from Guyana’s Foreign Ministry said the two attacks took place earlier this month on soldiers patrolling the Cuyuni River. It comes just days after the neighboring countries appeared before the International Court of Justice in The Hague for arguments in a dispute over a mineral- and oil-rich region that encompasses two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and that Venezuela claims as its own.
One of the attacks left a soldier with two gunshot wounds in the leg, Guyana’s Defense Force said in a statement. Guyanese officials have reported similar shootings over the past two years, with one of them injuring eight soldiers, according to the statement.
The military said soldiers returned fire in all cases.
The protest note also urged Venezuela’s government to take steps to prevent future attacks against Guyanese civilians and military.
