Six women among 24 Indian Maoists killed in police gunbattle
One commando was also killed at a rebels' forest camp near the border of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states
Tens of thousands of paramilitary troops and police are stationed in the tribal areas of central and eastern India, fighting thousands of armed insurgents. PHOTO: AFP
NEW DELHI:
Indian police killed on Monday 24 rebels in a shootout in eastern India, one of the heaviest casualties inflicted in recent years on the Maoists who are waging a long-running insurgency.
Police said that one commando was also killed after they ambushed at least 40 Maoist rebels gathered at a forest camp near the border of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states, triggering the gunbattle.
"A total of 24 Maoists are dead, seven of them are women. We have identified seven bodies so far," Mitrabhanu Mahapatra, the police chief of Malkangiri district where the clash occurred, said.
"We can confirm that two senior Maoist leaders are among the dead. One police commando who was injured in the gunbattle has also died," he added.
Nepal's Maoist leader to be next prime minister
Weapons including four AK-47s and three self-loading rifles were recovered from the scene, some 640km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, said another officer, local sub-inspector CK Dharua.
India's Maoist insurgency began in the 1960s, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, and has since cost thousands of lives.
The rebels, described by former prime minister Manmohan Singh as India's most serious internal security threat, say they are fighting authorities for land, jobs and other rights for poor tribal groups.
In July, 10 paramilitary commandos were killed in the eastern state of Bihar after suspected Maoist rebels ambushed their convoy and set off a series of homemade bombs.
In March suspected rebels triggered a powerful landmine blast in the central state of Chhattisgarh, killing seven policemen.
Maoist ambush in east India kills 10 police
The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) website, which tracks separatist violence, said the Maoist casualties were the heaviest suffered in a single incident in the last few years.
The insurgency has claimed more than 7,000 civilian lives between 2005 and 2016, according to SATP.
Maoist sympathiser and author Varavara Rao cast doubt on the police description of Monday's clash as a shootout.
Indian police killed on Monday 24 rebels in a shootout in eastern India, one of the heaviest casualties inflicted in recent years on the Maoists who are waging a long-running insurgency.
Police said that one commando was also killed after they ambushed at least 40 Maoist rebels gathered at a forest camp near the border of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states, triggering the gunbattle.
"A total of 24 Maoists are dead, seven of them are women. We have identified seven bodies so far," Mitrabhanu Mahapatra, the police chief of Malkangiri district where the clash occurred, said.
"We can confirm that two senior Maoist leaders are among the dead. One police commando who was injured in the gunbattle has also died," he added.
Nepal's Maoist leader to be next prime minister
Weapons including four AK-47s and three self-loading rifles were recovered from the scene, some 640km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, said another officer, local sub-inspector CK Dharua.
India's Maoist insurgency began in the 1960s, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, and has since cost thousands of lives.
The rebels, described by former prime minister Manmohan Singh as India's most serious internal security threat, say they are fighting authorities for land, jobs and other rights for poor tribal groups.
In July, 10 paramilitary commandos were killed in the eastern state of Bihar after suspected Maoist rebels ambushed their convoy and set off a series of homemade bombs.
In March suspected rebels triggered a powerful landmine blast in the central state of Chhattisgarh, killing seven policemen.
Maoist ambush in east India kills 10 police
The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) website, which tracks separatist violence, said the Maoist casualties were the heaviest suffered in a single incident in the last few years.
The insurgency has claimed more than 7,000 civilian lives between 2005 and 2016, according to SATP.
Maoist sympathiser and author Varavara Rao cast doubt on the police description of Monday's clash as a shootout.