Indian Maoist guerrillas killed nine members of the security forces on Monday by detonating a roadside bomb that hurled their vehicle into the air, police have reported.
Photographs published by Indian media showed a deep crater torn into the road by the blast.
More than 10,000 people have lost their lives in the decades-long insurgency waged by the rebels, who claim to be fighting for the rights of marginalised indigenous people in India’s resource-rich central regions.
Government forces have intensified efforts to suppress the long-running armed conflict, with approximately 287 rebels killed in 2024, according to official figures.
Monday’s attack in the central state of Chhattisgarh occurred as soldiers were returning from an anti-Maoist operation on Saturday, during which four rebels and a police officer were killed.
“Eight security forces and a driver were killed today when the vehicle in which they were travelling struck a landmine,” said Vivekanand Sinha, chief of the state police’s anti-Maoist operations.
The rebels, also referred to as Naxalites after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
In 2024, around 1,000 suspected Naxalites were arrested, and 837 surrendered.
Amit Shah, India’s interior minister, warned the Maoist rebels in September to surrender or face an “all-out” assault, declaring that the government aimed to eliminate the insurgency by early 2026.
Following Monday’s attack, Shah reiterated his promise.
“I promise that this sacrifice of our men won’t go to waste,” Shah said in a statement.
“We will wipe out Naxalism from our country by March 2026,” he added.
The movement grew in strength and numbers until the early 2000s, prompting New Delhi to deploy tens of thousands of security personnel against the rebels in a stretch of territory known as the “Red Corridor”.
In recent years, the insurgency has been significantly curtailed in the area.
Authorities have also invested millions of dollars in local infrastructure and social projects to diminish the appeal of the Naxalite movement.
