India security forces kill 28 Maoist rebels in firefight

Indian security forces shot dead at least 28 Maoist rebels on Friday during a firefight, days after the country's home minister warned the insurgents to surrender or face an "all-out" assault.

More than 10,000 people have died in a decades-long insurgency waged by the Naxalite movement in India's resource-rich tribal heartlands.

The insurgency has drastically shrunk in recent years and a crackdown by security forces has killed at least 190 rebels this year, according to government data.

Friday's gunfight took place in the central state of Chhattisgarh, the heartland of the rebel movement, which claims to be fighting on behalf of downtrodden rural and tribal communities.

"Total 28 Maoist dead bodies have been recovered," Bastar region police chief P. Sunarraj told AFP.

Narayanpur district police superintendent Prabhat Kumar told AFP that one member of the Indian security forces had a "minor injury", was evacuated by helicopter and was now safe.

The battle occurred in Abujhmad forest, a remote and sparsely inhabited area of southern Chhattisgarh.

Kumar said the joint operation between police and other branches of India's security forces was still ongoing.

Friday's clash was one of many this year, as India's government steps up its campaign against the remnants of a Maoist rebellion that began nearly 60 years ago.

Home Minister Amit Shah met with citizens of Chhattisgarh last month and warned the insurgents to surrender to government forces or face the consequences.

"Lay down the weapons," he said at the time. "If not, we will launch an all-out campaign and get success."

Shah also said that India expected the Naxalite rebellion to be completely quashed by early 2026.

India has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel to battle the Maoists across the insurgent-dominated "Red Corridor", which stretches across central, southern and eastern states but has shrunk dramatically in size.

India has 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.

The conflict has seen a number of deadly attacks on government forces over the years.

Twenty-two police and paramilitaries were killed in a gun battle with the far-left guerrillas in 2021.

Sixteen commandos were also killed in the western state of Maharashtra in a bomb attack that was blamed on the Maoists in the lead-up to national elections in 2019.