Indian security forces clashed with Maoist rebels in their forest heartland on Sunday, killing at least four guerrillas and a policeman, police said.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in a decades-long insurgency by Naxal insurgents, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalized indigenous people in India’s resource-rich central region.
Government forces stepped up efforts last year to quell the long-running armed conflict, which killed some 287 rebels in 2024, according to official figures.
Clashes broke out late Saturday night in Abu Jhamad district of Chhattisgarh state, a key insurgency hotbed.
“Four bodies of the Maoists, who were in their combat uniform, were recovered after the encounter with the police forces,” Inspector General of Police P Sundarraj said. AFPHe added that a police constable was also killed.
He said that the action is still going on.
During 2024, about 1000 suspected Naxalites were arrested and 837 surrendered.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah warned in September that Maoist rebels must surrender or face an “all-out” attack, saying the government expects to end the insurgency by early 2026.
In recent years, insurgency in the region has been largely curtailed.
The Naxalites, named after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
They demanded land, jobs and a share of the region’s vast natural resources for the natives, and demanded entry into many remote communities in India’s east and south.
The movement gained strength and numbers by the early 2000s when New Delhi deployed tens of thousands of security personnel against insurgents in the area known as the “Red Corridor”.
Since then, authorities have invested millions of dollars in local infrastructure and social projects to counter the appeal of the Naxalites.