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Indian security forces have killed at least 10 Maoist rebels in a crackdown on the militants, police said on Sunday, as New Delhi struggles to quell a long-running insurgency.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in a decades-long insurgency led by the Naxalite group, which says it is fighting for the rights of untouchables in India’s remote, resource-rich central region. The attack took place in a remote forest area of Chhattisgarh state, the epicentre of the insurgency.
Vivekanand Sinha, the head of the state police’s anti-Maoist unit, said, “Ten bodies of Maoists have been recovered. Sinha said the police had recovered several automatic weapons from the rebels.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah this year issued a warning to the militants: surrender or face a “full-scale attack”. According to government data, security forces have killed more than 200 rebels this year, mostly in Chhattisgarh.
India has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel to fight the Maoists in the insurgent-controlled “Red Corridor” that stretches across central, southern and eastern states, but its size has been greatly reduced. India has invested millions of dollars in infrastructure development in remote areas and claims to have limited the insurgency to 45 areas in 2023, compared to 96 in 2010.
The insurgency has seen several deadly clashes with government forces over the years. Twenty-two police and security personnel were killed in a series of attacks by left-wing extremists in 2021.
Sixteen commandos were also killed in the western state of Maharashtra in a Maoist-blamed attack ahead of the 2019 national elections.
