Indian security forces killed at least 12 Maoist rebels. military news

About 3,000 officers were involved in the operation in Chhattisgarh state, a hotbed of the armed insurgency.

Indian security forces have killed at least 12 Maoist rebels as New Delhi steps up efforts to suppress the long-running insurgency.

Police said on Friday that the operation began on Thursday in the forested areas of Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state, known as the heartland of the insurgency.

“We have received information that 12 Maoists have been killed in an encounter with security forces,” senior police officer Sundarraj P told news agency AFP. India’s Hindustan Times news outlet put the death toll at 17, adding that At least 3,000 police personnel were involved in the operation since Wednesday night.

Last week, police in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district killed at least three Maoist rebels, including an alleged explosives expert who was suspected of being responsible for the deaths of several security personnel, according to The Indian Express newspaper.

Last year, India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah said the government hoped to crush the insurgency by 2026.

More than 200 insurgents have been killed by security forces in the past year, according to government figures, most of them in Chhattisgarh.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in the decades-long insurgency, where rebels say they are fighting for the rights of marginalized indigenous people.

The conflict has seen several deadly attacks on government forces over the years.

Earlier this month, at least nine Indian security forces were killed in a roadside bomb blast. A week after that, Indian troops killed at least five fighters, while a separate bomb blast injured two police officers.

In 2021, 22 police and paramilitary members were killed in clashes with far-left rebel fighters.

In 2019, at least 16 commandos were also killed in a bomb attack in the western state of Maharashtra that was blamed on Maoists ahead of national elections.