About 3,000 officers were involved in the operation in the state of Chhattisgarh, the stronghold of the armed insurgency.
At least 12 Maoist rebels have been killed by Indian security forces as New Delhi steps up efforts to… a long-running revolution.
Police said on Friday that the operation began on Thursday in the forested areas of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh state, known as the heart of the insurgency.
“We have received information about the killing of 12 Maoists when we met the security forces,” senior police officer Sundarraj P told AFP news agency. India's Hindustan Times news outlet put the death toll at 17, adding that at least 3,000 police personnel were involved in the operation since Wednesday night.
Last week, police in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district also killed at least three Maoist rebels, including an explosives expert suspected of being responsible for the deaths of several security personnel, according to The Indian Express newspaper.
Last year, India's Home Minister Amit Shah said the government planned to crush the insurgency by 2026.
Clashes with security forces have killed more than 200 rebels in the past year, the majority in Chhattisgarh, according to government data.
More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long insurgency, where the rebels say they are fighting for the rights of marginalized indigenous people.
The conflict has seen several deadly attacks on government forces over the years.
Earlier this month, a roadside bomb killed him at least nine Indian security forces. A week later, Indian troops killed at least five militants while a separate bomb blast wounded two police officers.
In 2021, 22 police and paramilitary members were killed in a gun battle with the far-right rebel fighters.
In 2019, at least 16 commandos were also killed in the western state of Maharashtra in a bomb attack blamed on the Maoists ahead of the national elections.
