Indian soldiers kill dozens of suspected Maoist rebels in Abujhmad forest
Al Jazeera
Police say 31 Maoist rebels killed in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh after a nine-hour firefight.
At least 31 suspected Maoist rebels have been killed during a clash with Indian security forces, state police said.
The confrontation took place on Friday after counterinsurgency forces, acting on intelligence, surrounded approximately 50 suspected rebels in the dense Abujhmad forest, located on the border between Narayanpur and Dantewada districts in Chhattisgarh, according to Inspector General Pattilingam Sundarraj on Saturday.
The operation, which began on Thursday, led to a nine-hour firefight the following day. Security personnel have since been conducting search operations in the area and have recovered several weapons, including automatic rifles. No injuries or casualties have been reported among the government forces.
There was no immediate statement from the rebels.
Indian forces have been engaged in a long-running conflict with Maoist rebels, known as Naxalites, since 1967. The armed uprising began as a movement demanding jobs, land, and a greater share of the wealth from natural resources for the country’s impoverished Indigenous communities.
