RAIPUR: Indian security forces have shot dead five Maoist rebels, including two senior commanders, in the first major onslaught since the guerrillas announced a unilateral halt in fighting last week, officials said Wednesday.
New Delhi has launched an all-out offensive to crush the decades-long conflict, vowing to wipe out the Maoist rebellion by March 2026.
The latest gunbattles were reported from the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, part of the so-called “Red Corridor.”
“Three members of the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) were killed today in a gunbattle with security forces,” police inspector general Michaelraj S. told AFP.
JJMP is a splinter group of the Naxalite movement, named after the village in the foothills of the Himalayas where the Maoist-inspired guerrilla movement began nearly six decades ago.
