Suspected militants attacked a convoy of Peruvian military with bombs in a remote coca-growing region in south-east Peru, killing twelve soldiers and seven civilians.
The soldiers were returning to a base in Huancavelica province Thursday night after patrol when they were attacked, the Peruvian armed forces said in a statement.
Several others, including women and children, were wounded in the ambush.
The military said it believed the rebels belonging to the Shining Path were behind the attack, resulting in what would be the biggest loss of life caused by the Peruvian subversives in a decade.
The Maoist-inspired guerrilla group attempted to impose a communist regime through violence in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Shining Path guerrillas, who have been largely inactive in recent years, still control remote coca-growing areas of Peru's central jungle and are heavily involved in the drugs trade.
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