Indian paramilitary commandos death toll rises drastically in the deadliest attack
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Maoist rebels killed 26 paramilitary commandos and wounded six on Monday in a remote part of central India in one of the deadliest attacks of a long-running internal conflict.
The soldiers were guarding road workers in the Sukma district of Chhattisgargh state, a hotbed of insurgent violence, when they came under heavy fire.
“We have recovered 23 bodies from the spot and one soldier died in Raipur during treatment,” Anand Chhabra, a senior police officer, told AFP, referring to the state capital.
He said six other commandos from the Central Reserve Police Force were critically injured and had been evacuated for treatment.
Another police officer, Sunil Tiwari, told AFP that Indian security forces were looking for “some CRPF soldiers who are missing”, adding that the rebels snatched weapons during the ambush.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of the deceased, saying the sacrifice of their loved ones would not be in vain.
“Attack on @CRPFIndia personnel in Chhattisgarh is cowardly and deplorable. We are monitoring the situation closely,” Modi posted on Twitter.
Fatal attacks by insurgents on security forces in central and eastern India are frequent, but Monday's assault was among the deadliest in years.
Television footage showed injured commandos in their army fatigues being stretchered from ambulances into hospitals for treatment.
One soldier who survived the attack, Sher Mohammed, told reporters from his hospital bed that “almost 300 of them attacked us”.
