(Reuters) – At least 22 members of Indian security forces were killed in a central state of India by Maoist fighters in one of the bloodiest attacks by the far-left insurgent group this year, officials said on Sunday.
Security personnel belonging to the elite CoBRA unit of the Central Reserve Police Force, the District Reserve Guard and the Special Task Force were attacked on Saturday in the tribe-dominated state of Chhattisgarh. during an anti-insurrection operation.
“We can confirm that 22 of the members of the Indian force have been killed by Maoist fighters,” a senior government official said in Raipur, the mineral-rich capital of Chhattisgarh.
They were shot dead for four hours in the Sukma border district, 540 kilometers (340 miles) south of Raipur.
Om Prakash Pal, a senior Raipur police official, said hairstyle operations were being carried out to locate a missing member of the security forces.
The death toll was the heaviest for Indian security forces fighting the far-left guerrilla since 2017.
Interior Minister Amit Shah said the government will not tolerate such bloodshed and “an adequate response will be given to prevent such attacks”.
The Maoists, also known as the Naxals, have waged an armed insurrection against the government for decades. Leaders of the hard-line left-wing militant group say they are fighting for the poorest, who have not benefited from a long economic boom in the Asian third economy.
Since 1967, the group considered the biggest threat to the country’s internal security has claimed control of vast strips of land in central and eastern India, establishing a so-called “red corridor”.
The militant group operates from thick forests and its operations against the administration and Indian forces are secretly surrounded. The group has not claimed the latest attack.
Hours after the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter that “the sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the wounded be recovered as soon as possible.”
Last month, five policemen were killed and several others were injured in an explosion in what police said was a Maoist strike targeting a bus carrying more than 20 security personnel.
Reports of Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow and Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar; Written by Abhirup Roy, Rupam Jain; Edited by William Mallard and Hugh Lawson