Key points
- A separate bomb wounds two policemen
- Maoists are fighting for the rights of marginalised indigenous people
- Maoists armed campaign began in 1967
RAIPUR, India: Indian troops killed at least five Maoists including three men and two women as it confronts the long-running insurgency, with a separate bomb explosion wounding two policemen, officers claimed Sunday.
Naxalite or Maoists groups generally represent the poorest and most socially marginalised members of Indian society.
Decades-long insurgency
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the decades-long insurgency waged by the Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised indigenous people in India’s resource-rich central regions.
“The security forces have recovered five bodies of the Maoists,” police inspector general P Sunderraj told AFP, describing a firefight in the dense forests of Bijapur district in the central state of Chhattisgarh.
Weapons taken from the dead bodies of the rebels — three men and two women — included a grenade launcher and rifles, he claimed.
Armed campaign
In a separate incident, a homemade landmine detonated in Bijapur district, wounding two policemen.
Around 287 Maoists were killed in 2024 in the decades-long conflict. The Maoists, also known as Naxalites after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.