Indian commandos shot dead the Maoist insurgent chief and 26 other guerillas on Wednesday, the country’s home minister said, calling it a decisive blow to the decades-long conflict.
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India is waging an all-out offensive against the last vestiges of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the foothills of the Himalayas where the Maoist-inspired guerilla movement began nearly six decades ago.
More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have died since a handful of villagers rose up against their feudal lords there in 1967.
At its peak in the mid-2000s, the rebellion controlled nearly a third of the country with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fighters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “proud of our forces for this remarkable success”, adding that the government was “committed to eliminating the menace of Maoism and ensuring a life of peace and progress”.
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In the latest incident, 27 rebels were killed in the central state of Chhattisgarh, including Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist group, interior minister Amit Shah said.