Security forces kill 29 Maoist rebels in India
Security forces in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh say they have killed 29 Maoist rebels.
The incident has occurred just days before the country heads to the polls in the Indian general election.
The killing took place in the Kanker area close to Bastar, a stronghold of the rebels.
It’s the highest number of Maoist deaths in a clash in recent years, state police say.
Chhattisgarh has seen a long-running insurgency by Maoists who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor.
People in Bastar are set to vote on Friday on the first day of the general election, while Kanker goes to polls on 26 April.
Tuesday’s clash happened after security forces received a tip-off about the presence of leaders from the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Kankar.
Officials told reporters that a gunfight broke out during the search operation by forces and after that, 29 bodies of Maoist rebels and a large cache of arms were recovered.
The Maoist insurgency began in West Bengal state in the late 1960s and has since spread to more than a third of India’s 600 districts.
The rebels control large areas of several states in a “red corridor” stretching from northeast to central India.