Peru on Tuesday deployed armored vehicles along its border with Ecuador, the military said, in a bid to stop an influx of undocumented migrants from further north.

The Joint Command of the Peruvian Armed Forces said on Twitter that after a meeting with the Ecuadorian military, it decided to "strengthen control measures" in the coming days for "blocking the entry of illegal immigrants."

The city of Tumbes in northern Peru is the main point of entry for migrants from Venezuela who cross Colombia and Ecuador trying to get to countries further south on the continent.

Local press have distributed images of a column of armored vehicles rolling down the streets of Tumbes, amid reports that groups of undocumented immigrants had pelted Peruvian police with stones.

The border between Peru and Ecuador is closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. But since earlier this month, the two countries' militaries have detected and destroyed 11 routes used by caravans of illegal migrants and contraband vehicles.

The United Nations estimates more than five million Venezuelans have left the country since the end of 2015 in the hopes of making a better life elsewhere.

An estimated 1.4 million have gone to Colombia and 860,000 to Peru, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Peru has borders with Ecuador and Colombia.

Many countries in South America, like in the rest of the world, are battling a second, violent wave of coronavirus infections, with restrictions on migration a key tool for combating virus spread.

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