Indian forces killed at least 30 Maoist rebels Thursday in one of the deadliest jungle clashes since the government ramped up efforts to crush the long-running insurgency.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the decades-long "Naxalite" rebellion, whose members say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised people in India's resource-rich central regions.
An Indian paramilitary soldier was also killed in one of two separate skirmishes that broke out in central Chhattisgarh state, both of which carried on through the day, according to police.
Bastar Inspector General of Police Sundarraj Pattilingam told AFP that the soldier had been killed during a skirmish that broke out in Bijapur district, where 26 guerrillas had also been killed.
Another four rebels were killed in a separate clash in the state's south.
Searches at both battle sites saw security forces recovering caches of arms and ammunition from both areas.
"The (Narendra) Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against Naxalites and is adopting a zero tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering," interior minister Amit Shah wrote on social media platform X.
The rebels, known as Naxalites after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
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