BHUBANESWAR, INDIA: At least eight policemen and a driver were killed in a bomb blast by Maoist rebels in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.
A police vehicle in which the victims were traveling was hit by an explosion in Bijapur district of Bijapur state on Monday, police said.
This is the latest in a series of sporadic attacks on security forces in the state. It follows frequent firefights between forces and rebels in which several rebels have been killed in recent months.
Chhattisgarh and its neighboring states in central and eastern India have been affected by a decades-long insurgency by Maoist rebels, although the areas in which they operate have shrunk significantly over the years.
The rebels profess a form of communism promoted by the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and have waged a guerrilla offensive against the government that has resulted in regular clashes and casualties on both sides.
The Maoists say they are fighting to give India’s poor farmers and landless laborers more control over their land and a greater claim to its minerals, which are currently mined by large mining companies.
