Bhubaneswar, India: At least eight policemen and a driver were killed in a bomb blast by Maoist rebels in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said Monday.
A police vehicle in which the victims were traveling was hit by an explosion in the state’s Bijapur district on Monday, a police statement said.
This is the latest in a series of sporadic attacks on security forces in the state. This follows frequent gun battles between forces and rebels in which several rebels have been killed in recent months.
Chhattisgarh and its neighboring states in central and eastern India have been plagued by a decades-long insurgency by Maoist insurgents, although the areas they operate in have shrunk significantly over the years.
The rebels subscribe to a form of communism propagated by the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, and have waged a guerrilla-style offensive against the government, resulting in periodic clashes and casualties on both sides. There are
The Maoists say they are fighting to give poor Indian farmers and landless laborers more control over their land and a greater claim to its minerals, which are currently being exploited by large mining companies.