Asia-Pacific

Rebels kill 75 troops in India

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-07 06:54
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Rebels kill 75 troops in India

A paramilitary policeman, who was wounded in a rebel attack, is moved from an ambulance to a hospital in Jagdalpur, in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh, April 6, 2010. [Agencies]

Attack deadliest against government, concern over poorly trained forces

PATNA, India - Leftist rebels known as Naxals launched a series of devastating attacks on Tuesday against paramilitary forces patrolling the forests of the eastern part of India, killing at least 75 troops in the deadliest strike against the government in the 43-year insurgency.

The attack, which came amid a major Indian offensive aimed at crushing the rebels, fueled concerns that the government is sending poorly trained forces to the front lines to battle the insurgency.

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The dead included a deputy and an assistant commandant, as well as a head constable of the district police force, The Statesman newspaper reported.

Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, the nation's top law enforcement official, said the attacks showed "the brutality and the savagery" of the rebels.

"Something has gone drastically wrong," Chidambaram said. "They seem to have walked into a camp or a trap."

At least 82 troops were in a patrol party that had spent three or four days scouring forests in the rebel stronghold of Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh state, said R.K. Vij, the inspector general of state police.

Early on Tuesday, rebels ambushed some of the troops, killing at least three of them, he said. Another 17 troops who went to recover the bodies were killed when a land mine blew up their vehicle, Vij said. More troops died as the fighting continued to rage throughout the afternoon. The attack was suspected to have been carried out by about 1,000 Naxals, The Times of India reported.

The bodies of 75 paramilitary troops were recovered by Tuesday afternoon in the remote and heavily forested area, Vij said.

Seven troops were also wounded, three of them critically, he said. The government found no rebel bodies, he said.

The rebels are named after Naxalbari, the village in West Bengal state where their movement was born in 1967. In February, they killed 24 police officers in West Bengal in a stunning attack on their camp.

They have tapped into the rural poor's growing anger at being left out of the country's economic gains and are now present in 20 of the country's 28 states. They have about 10,000 to 20,000 fighters.

The troops were part of the government's "Operation Green Hunt" offensive aimed at flushing the militants out of their forest hide-outs.

Several experts said the government offensive was flawed and the inadequately trained, poorly equipped soldiers were often sitting ducks for rebels much more familiar with the terrain.

"It's a flawed operation," said K.P.S. Gill, a retired senior police officer who has been involved in several operations in insurgency-hit areas.

"What is the point of a four-day patrol? You have a fatigued force in the heat of Chhattisgarh at this time of the year," he said.

April temperatures in the area often hit 43 C.

He also called the anti-mine vehicles used by the troops "death traps".

About 2,000 people - including police, militants and civilians - have been killed in the violence over the past few years.

Reuters contributed to the story.

Associated Press

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