12 Maoists shot dead in India

New Delhi

Indian security forces shot dead 12 Maoist rebels in a remote forest in eastern India, police said. Fighting broke out, when police intercepted a group of suspected guerrillas in eastern Jharkand state, a rebel stronghold.

“They started firing when we tried to stop them,” said Hemant Toppo deputy inspector general of police in Palamu where the incident occurred. The security personnel retaliated resulting in the killing of 12 Naxals in an exchange that last for almost an hour, added Hemant Toppo.

India's long-running Maoist insurgency began in the 1960s and has cost thousands of lives.The rebels, as India's most serious internal security threat, say they are fighting authorities for land, jobs and other rights for poor tribal groups.