Shining Path there were 96 terrorist incidents in Peru, projecting a 15% decrease from the 134 kidnappings and armed attacks in 2002. Also for the year, eight or nine people were killed by the Shining Path, and 6 "senderistas" were killed and 209 were captured. In January 2004, a man known as Comrade Artemio and identifying himself as one of the Shining Path's leaders, said in a media interview that the group would resume violent operations unless the Peruvian government granted amnesty to other top Shining Path leaders within 60 days. Peru's Interior Minister, Fernando Rospigliosi, said that the government would respond
Shining Path returned to the areas where the Shining Path had been active. Although the organization's numbers had lessened by 2003, a militant faction of the Shining Path called "Proseguir" ("Onward") continued to be active. On May 21, 2002, a car bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Lima just before a visit by President George W. Bush. Nine people were killed and 30 were injured; the attack was determined to be the work of the Shining Path. On June 9, 2003, a Shining Path group attacked a camp in Ayacucho, and took 68 employees of the Argentinian company Techint and three