RAIPUR, Oct 20: Twelve paramilitary policemen were killed and six others injured in an ambush by suspected Maoist rebels in central India, police said on Monday.

“About 40 to 50 personnel were on a patrol when some were caught in an ambush,” Vishwa Ranjan, police director-general of Chhattisgarh state, said. The clash took place in remote forests of the state’s Bijapur district.

The rebels have a significant presence in Chhattisgarh state, which is one of India’s poorest.

The Maoist insurgency grew out of a peasant uprising in 1967 and has spread to over half of India’s 29 states.

At least 834 people were killed in Maoist-related violence nationwide last year. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the rebels as the biggest threat to India’s internal security.—AFP