Lima - An assault on a police station Sunday in Peru left at least five people dead.

Peruvian police blamed the attack on members of the Maoist guerilla group Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, acting in the employ of narcotics traffickers.

The one-hour firefight occurred in a forested part of the southern province of Huanta, a hotbed of drug activity.

The conflict between the Shining Path and the government began in 1980 but largely ended in 1992 with the capture of the Shining Path's leader, Abimael Guzman. Nearly 70,000 people were killed or disappeared during the conflict, 54 per cent at the hands of the Shining Path, a government-appointed commission said in a 2003 report. (dpa)