Border tensions over Guyana's Esequibo and the humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami Indigenous people have led Brazil's army to increase its forces in the Amazon by 10% ahead of plan, the military commander for the region told Reuters, Paralel.Az reports.

The additional 2,000 troops will help the army patrol a 9,000 km border with Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in a jungle region used by drug traffickers and illegal miners, loggers and smugglers, General Ricardo Costa Neves said.

"They will reinforce our operations in this vast area to help combat border and environmental crimes," the four-star infantry general said in a rare media interview.

The dispute arising from Venezuela's claim over Guyana's oil-rich Esequibo region has already led the Brazilian army to send more soldiers, armored cars and artillery to the border state of Roraima with the creation of a new regiment there.