(Recasts, adds quote on group's threat, paragraphs 7-8)

By Diego Ore

LIMA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Suspected members of the Shining Path guerrilla group killed 12 Peruvian soldiers and wounded 14 others in an ambush near the mountain town of Tayacaja in southern Peru, the military said on Friday.

It was the deadliest attack by suspected rebels since President Alan Garcia took office in July 2006 and came just before Garcia was forced to reshuffle his entire cabinet over a corruption scandal.

Four military vehicles returning to a base in the coca-growing province of Huancavelica were attacked in the middle of the night when a bomb was tossed in front of one truck and shots were fired into the convoy. Two civilians were killed and three were injured.

The guerrillas did not suffer casualties.

"Military operations are underway to capture the terrorists," the army said. It initially said up to 19 people died in the attack but later revised the death toll.

Including the latest attack, about three dozen police, soldiers and anti-narcotics workers have been killed since Garcia began his term.

Garcia's approval rating has fallen to 19 percent, an all-time low, and since August he has been sending soldiers to the country's coca-rich regions in an effort to destroy what is left of the organization, which security officials say includes around 300 guerrillas.

"The presence (of the Shining Path) is growing everyday. If the government does not do something, this is going to become a national problem," said Federico Salas, president of Huancavelica province.

The clash occurred near the Apurimac and Ene valleys, which are important coca-growing regions. Peru is the world's second largest producer of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, after Colombia.

The Shining Path led a deadly insurrection that started in 1980. During two decades of conflict, 69,000 people were killed in Peru as government forces battled leftists.

The Shining Path largely collapsed in 1992 after its leader was captured, but holdout members of the group are still active. The government says they have mostly abandoned their Maoist ideology in favor of running drugs.

The ambush in Huancavelica, one of the poorest areas of Peru, was carried out as the country prepares to host the APEC forum in November, when 21 heads of state will visit Peru, including leaders from the United States, China and Japan.

A government critic and former interior minister blasted the army for getting caught off guard.

"This shows the military is inept and incompetent when it comes to dealing with terrorism," said Fernando Rospigliosi. (Reporting by Diego Ore and Marco Aquino; Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Philip Barbara)

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