Indian Maoist roadside bomb kills 9 troops

RAIPUR, Jan 06 (AFP): Indian Maoist guerrillas killed nine members of the security forces on Monday by detonating a roadside bomb that tossed their vehicle into the air, police said.

Photographs published by Indian media showed a deep crater ripped into the road by the blast.

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.

Government forces have stepped up efforts to crush the long-running armed conflict, with some 287 rebels killed in 2024, according to official figures.

The attack on Monday in the central state of Chhattisgarh took place as soldiers were returning from an anti-Maoist operation on Saturday, where 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 in came in contact with a landmine," said Sinha, chief of the state police's

anti-Maoist operations.