33 KILLED IN GUNFIGHT BETWEEN SECURITY FORCES AND REBELS IN CENTRAL INDIA

NEW DELHI, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Thirty-one suspected Maoist rebels and at least two security personnel were killed on Sunday in a gunfight in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Two security personnel were also injured in the fighting that took place in a forest in the Indravati National Park area of the Bijapur district, about 400 kilometres south of Raipur, local media reported.

"Two jawans (security men), including one from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the other from Special Task Force (STF), lost their lives, while two others were injured in the gunfight," senior police official P. Sundarraj was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times online report.

The rebels, also known as Naxalites, have been waging a decades-long insurgency in central and eastern India over various economic and political demands.

Gun battles between security forces and rebels periodically result in significant deaths.

Eight policemen and their driver were killed in a rebel bomb blast in the Bijapur region on January 6.

The government has sought to combat the problem through a security crackdown as well as economic schemes to improve the living standard of people in the Naxalism-affected backward regions.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah during a visit to Chhattisgarh in December said there has been a 70 per cent reduction in the deaths of security forces civilians in the past decade in the areas affected by Naxalism since 1983.

The federal government aims to "completely eradicate" Naxalism by the end of March 2026.

-- BERNAMA