SANTIAGO, CHILE — The family home of one of Chile’s top Indian leaders was destroyed Sunday in a suspicious fire. Hours later, hooded gunmen attacked the home of a retired military official and set it ablaze.

The apparent arsons happened in an area of the Araucania region in southern Chile where Mapuche Indians and Chile’s largest forestry companies have been mired in land conflicts. The area also is suffering from dozens of wildfires that have broken out as unusually high temperatures and dry weather turn pine forests into tinderbeds.

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