Sky
11th September 2007, 02:38
RAIPUR, India (AFP) — Maoists shot dead 12 Indian policemen in an ambush in the densely-forested central state of Chhattisgarh, police said Thursday.
The 12 slain policemen were part of a 42-member security team dispatched to clear Maoist landmines in Dantewada district, 500 kilometres (310 miles) from state capital Raipur, late Wednesday.
"We have received information about 12 bodies recovered," police official R.K. Vij said in Raipur.
He said a heavily-armed security posse of around 300 soldiers had been sent to hunt down the Maoist guerrillas in Dantewada.
"The contingent is being provided with air support," another senior official said as the state administration pressed a helicopter gunship into the search.
The official said scores of Maoists were involved in the ambush.
"The security men were simply outnumbered as they were trapped from all sides by rebels," the official said, adding that the Maoists faded away into thick jungle after the guerrilla-style attack.
The insurgents, who launched their campaign in 1967 and today operate in 14 of India's 29 states, say they are fighting for the rights of landless farmers.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year described them as the most serious threat to national security.
The killings follow the deaths of 24 security personnel in another insurgent ambush on July 11.
In March, 55 policemen were killed in the worst-ever Maoist assault in Chhattisgarh, the epicentre of rebel attacks.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the state by the conflict and now live in shelters as counter-insurgency forces operate in the increasingly lawless countryside.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i4dW3P...MTkm4xlUF93UqRw (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i4dW3P2YtANMdMTkm4xlUF93UqRw)
This is fantastic news. The people of India are justified to resist the tyrannical feudalism that dominates Hindu society.
The 12 slain policemen were part of a 42-member security team dispatched to clear Maoist landmines in Dantewada district, 500 kilometres (310 miles) from state capital Raipur, late Wednesday.
"We have received information about 12 bodies recovered," police official R.K. Vij said in Raipur.
He said a heavily-armed security posse of around 300 soldiers had been sent to hunt down the Maoist guerrillas in Dantewada.
"The contingent is being provided with air support," another senior official said as the state administration pressed a helicopter gunship into the search.
The official said scores of Maoists were involved in the ambush.
"The security men were simply outnumbered as they were trapped from all sides by rebels," the official said, adding that the Maoists faded away into thick jungle after the guerrilla-style attack.
The insurgents, who launched their campaign in 1967 and today operate in 14 of India's 29 states, say they are fighting for the rights of landless farmers.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year described them as the most serious threat to national security.
The killings follow the deaths of 24 security personnel in another insurgent ambush on July 11.
In March, 55 policemen were killed in the worst-ever Maoist assault in Chhattisgarh, the epicentre of rebel attacks.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the state by the conflict and now live in shelters as counter-insurgency forces operate in the increasingly lawless countryside.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i4dW3P...MTkm4xlUF93UqRw (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i4dW3P2YtANMdMTkm4xlUF93UqRw)
This is fantastic news. The people of India are justified to resist the tyrannical feudalism that dominates Hindu society.