Indian troops kill five Maoists, bomb wounds officers

RAIPUR, India: Indian troops killed at least five Maoist guerillas in the latest push to crush the long-running insurgency, with a separate bomb blast wounding two policemen, officers said on Monday.

More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long insurgency waged by the rebels, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised indigenous people in India´s resource-rich central regions.

“The security forces have recovered five bodies of the Maoists,” police inspector general P. Sunderraj told AFP, describing a firefight in the dense forests of Bijapur district in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Weapons taken from the dead bodies of the rebels -- three men and two women -- included a grenade launcher and rifles, he said.In a separate incident, a homemade landmine detonated in Bijapur district, wounding two policemen.Government forces have stepped up efforts to defeat the decades-long guerilla conflict, with around 287 rebels killed in 2024, according to official figures.