The region is home to the remaining members of the rebel Maoist group Shining Path, the National Police said as quoted by Sputnik.
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.
The officers 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.
AMK/PR