The attack took place in the valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro rivers — known under the acronym VRAEM — an impoverished region also called Peru's "cocaine valley," being a major producer of the coca plant.
"We mourn the loss of our police brothers who were ambushed when they were traveling in a police vehicle in the town center of Natividad in the Vraem, where 7 policemen have been killed and one police officer has survived," the police said on Twitter.
The RPP broadcaster reported that law enforcers were investigating the suspected involvement of the Shining Path group in the deadly attack.
The Shining Path group originated in the 1960s among university teachers and students of one of the poorest Peruvian departments of Ayacucho. In 1980, it reorganized into an armed group and began terrorist activities against government officials. After the defeat in the early 1990s, the group joined local drug dealers, according to Peruvian authorities.