At least 13 Maoists killed in India clash

RAIPUR: At least 13 Maoist insurgents were killed in a clash in central India, police said on Wednesday, taking the rebel toll in the long-running conflict to 50 this year.

Police said the gunfight with security forces took place in a remote forest in Chhattisgarh state’s Bijapur district on Tuesday.

Local police chief P. Sundarraj said that officers had seized a large cache of rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers and ammunition.

He said the gunfight with the guerrillas had lasted for around 14 hours.

Ten policemen, driver killed in central India blast; Maoists suspected“The identity of the Maoist dead bodies is yet to be established,” Sundarraj said, adding that three of those killed were women.

More than 50 Maoists have been killed in India this year, 46 of them in Chhattisgarh and another four in Maharashtra state, according to police figures.

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 but has been shrinking in size.