Indian police have killed 31 suspected Maoist rebels in what is being described as the "biggest ever operation" against the long-running insurgency. Security forces spent 21 days attempting to capture the rebels along the border of the states of Chhattisgarh and Telangana in central India, Home Minister Amit Shah said Wednesday. Describing the operation as a "historic breakthrough," Shah said security forces carried out the "biggest ever operation" against the rebels, killing 31 of them in Karreguttalu Hill, considered a Maoist stronghold. Indian authorities have been battling Maoist rebel groups, also known as Naxals, across several central and northern states since 1967. Inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, insurgents have over the decades launched attacks on government forces in an attempt to overthrow the state and, they say, usher in a classless society. "Our security forces completed this biggest anti-Naxal operation in just 21 days and I am extremely happy that there was not a single casualty in the security forces in this operation," Shah wrote on X, congratulating the soldiers for their "bravery and courage." "So far, a total of 214 Naxal hideouts and bunkers have been destroyed in this operation," a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs said, adding that hundreds of explosives were recovered during the search. The insurgents are known as Naxalites in India after Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal state where they originated in the late 1960s. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the operation in a post on X. "This success of the security forces shows that our campaign towards rooting out Naxalism is moving in the right direction. We are fully committed to establishing peace in the Naxal-affected areas and connecting them with the mainstream of development," Modi said. The Indian government has cracked down in areas where Maoist groups are active – an approach that, while appearing to reduce the threat level, has been criticized by some observers as heavy-handed and prone to abuse. Incidents of violence by rebel groups fell from 1,936 in 2010 to 374 in 2024, according to data from the home ministry. The total number of civilian and security-forces deaths have also fallen by 85% during this period, the data shows. But villagers who live in Maoist territory are largely cut off from the country's rapidly growing economy, and many live in fear, both of rebels taking their children as recruits and violent government raids. Some villagers in Chhattisgarh previously told CNN that they were forced to pay taxes to the Maoists, or face abuse or even torture. But if they did pay up, they risked being labeled Maoist sympathizers by government forces. At least 31 suspected Maoist rebels and two police officials were killed in February, in what was described by police as the deadliest combat this year so far. In 2021, 22 Indian security force members were killed and 31 injured in 2021 during a four-hour gun battle with insurgents, officials said. — CNN
