Peru's military confirmed at least 14 deaths in the massacre that took place in a remote region of the country, weeks before the upcoming polls of presidential elections. Al Jazeera reported that the massacre took the lives of 14 people on Sunday, including two children.

Peru's military blamed the group "Shining Path" for being responsible for the killings which they label as an "act of genocide." However, the Military also reassured Peruvians of a secure electoral process in the coming weeks. The military furthered that the group responsible for the killings labeled such acts to be "social cleansing."

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14 Killed in Peru Massacre

On the site of killings, leaflets were reportedly scattered warning locals to boycott the presidential elections next month, The Guardian reported. The outlet noted that the leaflets were saying that anyone who voted for Keiko Fujimori would be considered a traitor.

Authorities underscored that the killings took place in a community in Vizcatan de Ene, an area of the Peruvian Amazon. The said area is believed by authorities to be the hideout of the remaining members of the Shing Path Movement that retaliated against the Peruvian government during the 1980s and 1990s. Al Jazeera highlighted that the community located in the mountainous region of Valle de Los Rios Apurimac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM) is where 75 percent of cocaine in the country is produced.

"I strongly condemn the murder of 14 people in VRAEM," said the interim president of Peru, Francisco Sagasti, adding that he deployed patrols of the armed forces and police in the area. However, Peru's Police Chief César Cervantes said on Monday that more deaths will likely occur.

The United Nations also condemned the killings. In a statement, the UN office in Lima "called on all actors to act responsibly" and avoid the hate speech that heightens the tension. Furthermore, the bodies of the victims in the recent massacre have yet to be identified.

Peru Presidential Elections

The massacre in Peru happened two weeks before the second-round ballot between leftist teacher Pedro Castillo and three-time candidate Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori who is now in jail.

Reuters noted that Pedro Castillo continued to gain popularity among voters. In the survey conducted by the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP), Castillo obtained 44.8 percent support while Keko Fujimori gathered about 33.4 percent support. Castillo is a school teacher seeking the implementation of new taxes and royalties on the mining sector. Meanwhile, Fujimori was known to be a business-friendly conservative.

Castillo who also won the first round of the election was reported to have strong support among poor, and interior rural communities of Peru. However, Reuters highlighted that market watchers see Castillo's candidacy as a potential threat to the mining industry given the fact that Peru ranked second as the world's copper producer.

Meanwhile, demonstrators marched in Lima, Peru, and other major cities of the country on Saturday, as they expressed their opposition to Fujimori taking office.

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WATCH: Far-left candidate leads Peru into run-off presidential polls - from Al Jazeera English