Nine killed in roadside bomb attack in central India

In central India, a bombing that Maoist rebels used to launch their car into the air caused at least eight policemen and a driver to die, according to police.

A roadside blast struck the police vehicle carrying the victims, according to a police statement in the Chhattisgarh state of Bijapur on Monday.

Four rebels and a police officer were killed in an anti-Maoist operation that soldiers were returning from on Saturday when the attack took place.

“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 Vivekanand Sinha, chief of the state police’s anti-Maoist operations.

A deep crater caused by the explosion to obliterate the road, according to photos released by Indian media.

The rebels claim they are fighting to give poor Indian farmers and landless laborers more control over their land, which are currently being abused by major mining companies, killing more than 10,000 people in the decades-long conflict.

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 rebels, who are referred to as the Naxalites after the area in which their armed struggle began in 1967, were motivated by Mao Zedong, the leader of China. About 1, 000 suspected Naxalites were arrested and 837 surrendered in 2024.

Amit Shah, India’s interior minister, warned the Maoist rebels in September to surrender or face an “all-out” assault, saying the government expected to crush the rebellion by early 2026.

Up until the early 2000s, when New Delhi deployed tens of thousands of security personnel against the rebels in a “Red Corridor,” the movement grew in strength and numbers.

In recent years, the area of the rebellion has been severely restricted.