At least 13 Maoist rebels have been killed in clashes in central India. The country’s police reported this information on Wednesday. This year, 50 rebels were killed in the long-running conflict. This information is known from a report by the AFP.
According to the police, there was a gunfight with the security forces in a remote forest in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state on Tuesday. The gun battle with the guerillas lasted for about 14 hours. A large amount of rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and ammunition have been seized, said the local police chief, P. Sundarraj, who told AFP that the identity of the bodies of the Maoists has not yet been confirmed. However, three of the dead were women.
According to police statistics, more than 50 Maoists have been killed in India this year. 46 of them are in Chhattisgarh, and four more are in Maharashtra state.
Meanwhile, New Delhi has invested millions of dollars in infrastructure development in remote areas. According to their claim, the insurgency was limited to 45 districts in 2023.
In 2010, this number was 96. In addition, the annual death toll of insurgents has fallen by more than two-thirds over the past decade, according to government statistics.
