Brazil's military has launched a major ground operation to protect the land of the Awa, one of the country's last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, from illegal loggers, according to the human rights organization Survival International.
The organization reported hundreds of soldiers, police officers and Environment Ministry special agents have flooded the area of the Amazon rainforest with tanks, helicopters and 100 other vehicles to stop the deforestation. Since the operation started in late June, eight sawmills have been closed and other machinery has been confiscated and destroyed.
The Awa, many of whom have had no contact with the outside world, depend on the forest to live and are often shot when resisting logging efforts. According to Survival International, the tribe faces extinction if the destruction of their forests continues.
