Some of the Lima protesters, who are demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and fresh elections, threw stones and bottles at officers in the city center, AFP reporters saw.

The police were forced to temporarily retreat before they dug in behind riot shields and began deploying tear gas. At least two people were injured.

One building near the central Plaza San Martin caught fire, though it was not immediately clear how.

Peru has been rocked by protests since the ouster of Boluarte's predecessor, Pedro Castillo, in early December, though violent clashes have largely been isolated thus far to the country's south and east.

In the southern city of Arequipa, some 1,000 protesters tried early on Thursday to storm the airport, but were also repelled by police firing tear gas, local television showed.

Peru's human rights ombudsman later announced that one person had been killed in Arequipa, adding to two other deaths resulting from clashes on Wednesday and raising the nationwide death toll to 45.

Popular

Mass poisonings cast doubt on free meals reforms

New data rules could unlock cross-border data flows

Malaysia must not breathe Indonesia’s governance failure