Over 30 Naxal rebels killed in India
2 security personnel also killed in central Chhattisgarh state
File photo: Indian army soldiers look towards as smoke rises from building where suspected militants have taken refuge during a gun battle in Pampore, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, India on October 11, 2016. Heavy exchange of gunfire continued between holed up rebels and Indian army in a building in the Indian portion of Kashmir for the second straight day on October 11, 2016.
( Faisal Khan - Anadolu Agency )
NEW DELHI
At least 31 Naxal rebels were killed in a gun battle with security forces in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, officials said on Sunday.
In a “major operation,” security forces gunned down 31 Naxalites during an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, according to the state-owned Doordarshan News.
Sundarraj P, a senior police official in the region, told Anadolu in a statement that two security personnel were also killed in the encounter.
Last month, 14 Maoist rebels, also known as Naxals, were killed in a gun battle along the border between central Chhattisgarh and eastern Orissa states.
The insurgent group draws inspiration from far-left radical communists, supportive of Maoist political ideology. The rebels have been fighting for more than three decades in eastern and central India for what they describe as the rights of tribal people in the region.
The Indian government claims that the insurgency will be quashed by March 2026.
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