Three police officers and two women were killed in an overnight raid at a remote police post in southern Peru, the Interior Ministry said Sunday, Xinhua reported.
The ministry said the assault, taking place in the early hours of Sunday in San Jose de Secce in the Ayacucho region, was probably staged by Shining Path, a Peruvian rebel group involved in drug trafficking.
Police said around 50 fighters attacked the base between midnight and dawn, with explosives and firearms.
The two women killed seem to be the spouses of the slain police officers, but their identities are yet to be confirmed, local radio reported.
A group of some 50 police agents have arrived in San Jose de Secce to reinforce local security.
Interior Minister Octavio Salzar left for Ayacucho Sunday morning to oversee local police operations, according to local media.
The Ayacucho region is covered by plantations of coca leaf, a primary ingredient of cocaine. Peru is currently the world's second-largest producer of coca leaf, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The Shining Path launched its insurgency in the 1980s, but it almost disappeared after the arrest of its leader in the 1990s.
The armed group is now believed to operate primarily in Ayacucho while trafficking cocaine among Andean highlands.
The remnants of the group attacked an army base in the Ayacucho region in April this year, killing 13 soldiers.
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