NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said India was failing in its efforts to crush a Maoist rebellion plaguing vast swathes of the country.

Addressing a conference of senior police and security officials in New Delhi, Singh once again described the ultra-leftist insurgency as “the most serious internal security threat” India was facing.

“It is evident that despite the efforts that have and are being made, the measures taken so far have not yielded desired results,” the premier was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

“The inability of intelligence agencies and the police to obtain pinpointed and actionable intelligence and in time has enabled these outfits to carry out some high-profile attacks.” Singh was referring to audacious attacks by the revolutionaries this year including the slaughter in July of 21 elite police commandos in eastern Orissa state.

In March 2007, the rebels assassinated a federal MP and a few days later killed 55 policemen in twin attacks in eastern India.

The Maoist insurgency grew out of a peasant uprising in 1967 and rebels often target the overstretched and poorly trained security forces operating in the east of the country. The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of neglected tribal people and landless farmers and that their ultimate goal is to capture India’s cities and overthrow parliament.

The left-wing guerrillas are active in more than half of India’s 29 states and the rebels use a heavily forested region in eastern Chhattisgarh state as their headquarters.

Singh’s government promised in July to create new, specialised commando units in the worst-hit states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

It has also pledged to create six jungle warfare and counter-insurgency schools.

At least 834 people were killed in Maoist-related violence nationwide last year.

India has refused to hold peace talks with the rebels unless they renounce violence.—AFP