The skirmish broke out when government soldiers raided an illegal gold mine in the town of Guasipati in eastern Bolivar state, local media reported Sunday.

Venezuelan authorities have not released details of the operation, but an unofficial military report quoted by Agence France Presse said "an exchange of shots with several still-unidentified suspects left 18 dead," including a woman. No soldiers were believed to be among the dead.

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The army seized four assault rifles, seven pistols, three revolvers, a shotgun and two grenades, local newspaper Correo del Caroni reported.

It added that the deceased woman was believed to be the sister of alleged gang leader Anderson Rodriguez Cuevas. She reportedly took over running the illegal Guasipati mine after her brother's murder in September.

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Venezuela's illegal gold mines Mafia war in Venezuelan gold mines There is a bloody mafia war raging for control of the unlicensed gold mines in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar. Miners get killed regularly, their bodies mutilated or riddled with bullets. They have flocked to this region as President Nicolas Maduro's Socialist government has struggled with a three-year recession, spiraling inflation and food shortages.

Venezuela's illegal gold mines Dangerous life in the mines of El Callao A worker descends into an underground mine on the bank of a river in El Callao. It is believed, that 90 percent of the gold produced in the South American nation comes from illegal mines. In a country where a crushing economic crisis has fueled an epidemic of violent crime, such mines are "primarily in mafia hands," says Venezuelan Mining Chamber head Luis Rojas.

Venezuela's illegal gold mines "I'll probably do this till I die" A narrow mine shaft is filled with water and the smell of gases. The handmade wood supports to prevent a collapse look precarious at best. But Ender Moreno is unfazed. At 18 years old, he has already been doing this job for eight years. "I'm not afraid," he says as he climbs through the pitch black, his headlamp lighting the way through the hazardous maze 30 meters (100 feet) underground.

Venezuela's illegal gold mines Assault rifle shootouts common Ender knows three young men who were killed in his neighborhood. "They were miners, but they started running around with gangsters." A while ago, his boss at the mine was killed because he refused to let mobsters take over the business. Two months before that, 28 workers were massacred at a nearby mine, in what authorities called a turf war between rival gangs.

Venezuela's illegal gold mines Polluting mining A miner shows a gold-mercury amalgam he found prospecting. At the nearby Nacupay gold mine, workers dig the earth from the bed of a contaminated river as others pour mercury into pans of extracted sediment. The open-pit mine is known as one of the most violent and polluting in the region.

Venezuela's illegal gold mines Desperate situation Ender looks for gold in an open pit. After returning back to the surface, he contemplates his future during a short break. "My mom says this is no kind of life. But I can't stop because I need the money to help her," the teenage miner says. Workers make somewhere between 260,000 and one million bolivars a month ($95 to $360 or €88 to €334) - which, they point out, is far higher than minimum wage.

Venezuela's illegal gold mines Workers sleep on-site in malaria-ridden camps Venezuela was the first nation worldwide to eradicate malaria in its most populated areas, even preceding the United States in 1961. However, the situation now has changed for the worse, as the country has reported an increase in the incidence of malaria cases every year since 2008. The state of Bolivar accounts for the majority of these cases. Author: Nadine Berghausen



Mineral-rich arc

The severe economic crisis gripping Venezuela has driven hundreds of diggers to set up illegal gold mining operations in the Orinoco Mining Arc, an area that stretches from the border with Guyana in the east to Colombia's frontier in the west. The region has vast deposits of gold, iron, diamonds, bauxite and other minerals.

The involvement of armed groups in makeshift mining means clashes over these valuable resources have become fairly common.

In 2016, 17 people were killed in nearby Tumeremo in fighting between rival gangs. Their bodies were later found in a mass grave. The town was also the scene of a skirmish between soldiers and miners last September in which 11 people died.

The cash-strapped government of President Nicolas Maduro has sought boost the extraction of minerals in the Mining Arc in an effort to offset falling oil revenues, while at the same time launching a crackdown against illegal mining.

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Criticism of army's actions

Opposition lawmaker Americo De Grazia on Sunday criticized the Guasipati raid, accusing the government of "clearing" mining areas "with fire and blood."

"Did 18 citizens die and not a single soldier was injured?" he asked.

Local NGO the Venezuelan Program and Education Action in Human Rights (PROVEA) said on Twitter that the operation was concerning because it appeared to share similarities with a 2006 incident in which the military allegedly gunned down several miners in La Paragua, also in Bolivar state.

"When carrying out executions, police and the military generally argue that there was a confrontation," the group said. "They justified the massacre of miners in La Paragua in 2006 by fabricating a confrontation. Are we facing a new massacre in Bolivar?"

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nm/jm (Reuters, AFP, AP, EFE)