The rebels, estimated around 20,000, hold sway over vast swathes of the countryside, many rich in metals and minerals. India's Congress party-led government is taking on the rebels in a biggest-ever offensive, reflecting growing concerns that the rebels are becoming stronger in the decades-long insurgency.
The maoists started an armed struggle with a peasant revolt in Naxalbari village in West Bengal state in 1967 but were initially crushed by the Congress-led government after which they regrouped in the 1980s.
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