Indian troops kill five Maoists, bomb wounds officers

RAIPUR, India, January 13 — Indian troops killed at least five Maoist guerillas in the latest push to crush the long-running insurgency, with a separate bomb blast wounding two policemen, officers said Sunday.

More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long insurgency waged by the rebels, 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 said.

In a separate incident, a homemade landmine detonated in Bijapur district, wounding two policemen.

Government forces have stepped up efforts to defeat the decades-long guerilla conflict, with around 287 rebels killed in 2024, according to official figures.

The rebels, also known as Naxalites after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.

Around 1,000 suspected Naxalites were arrested and 837 surrendered last year.

Amit Shah, India's interior minister, has repeatedly set a deadline for March 2026 to defeat the Maoists.