A Joint Services team was late yesterday flown into the Enachu River area to investigate reports of an armed robbery attack on a mining camp in the vicinity, at around 15:15h.

Colonel Bruce Lovell, third in command of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), when contacted, confirmed that a joint team was dispatched from the city to the area at around 17:15 h.

However, he was not in a position to provide any further information, as according to him, word was still being awaited from the Joint Services team on the ground.

Captain Gerry Gouveia, meanwhile, dispelled rumours that an aircraft was transporting casualties from the Enachu River area, sited some 170 miles up the Mazaruni River.

He said that there was a “rapid response” from the Joint Services upon news filtering out of the area about the attack.

Speaking with the Chronicle, around 20:00h, Capt. Gouveia said he was unaware that any other aircraft had gone into the area to retrieve casualties.

“As we speak, the aircraft which took a team into the Enachu area to investigate the report is on the ground at Timehri and will be returning to Ogle shortly,” he said.

A police release later stated that the Joint Services have responded to a report received of an armed robbery committed on a mining camp at Enachu at about 15:15h. yesterday, but added that it had no other information.

The Joint Services have been on the alert ever since January 26, last, when some 10 heavily armed men invaded the community of Lusignan on the East Coast of Demerara, killing 11 persons, including five children.

And less than three weeks later, on February 17, at about 21:45 , the peaceful community of Bartica came under siege from some 20 heavily armed gunmen dressed in camouflage clothing.

The gunmen first attacked and neutralized any form of defense from the police station by killing three policemen and injuring two others.

Having raided two strong boxes of weapons, ammunition and cash, the gunmen then took command of a police vehicle which they used to commit other heinous crimes.

At the end of their rampage, about an hour later, 12 persons lay dead – two security guards, three policemen, a taxi driver, and six crew members from two vessels which were moored alongside the Transport and Harbours wharf, all killed execution style.

Four other persons, including a 14-year-old girl who was assisting her mother to sell confectionery from a tray were also injured.

Following investigations in to the two attacks, a 19-year-old bus conductor was charged and has been remanded, charged with the massacre of 11 persons in Lusignan.

Three other people, a boat captain included, have been detained and are being intensively grilled in connection with the carnage at Bartica.