Indian Maoists kill two security forces in roadside blast

NEW DELHI (AFP): Indian Maoist insurgents killed two members of the security forces by blowing up a ration truck with a roadside bomb, police said Monday, the latest clash in a decades-long conflict.

The attack took place in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, where the insurgents, known as Naxalites, have been carrying out guerrilla attacks since 1967.

“The Maoists triggered a heavy land mine blast targeting a truck loaded with rations”, Sukma district police chief Kiran G Chavan told AFP.

“Two security personnel lost their lives.”

The guerrillas say they are fighting for the rural poor.

India has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel to battle the Maoist rebels across the insurgent-dominated “Red Corridor”, which stretches across central, southern and eastern states.

Rebel operations have shrunk considerably over the past decade.

The country has also pumped millions of dollars into infrastructure development in remote areas and claims to have confined the insurgency to 45 districts in 2023, down from 96 in 2010.