NEW DELHI, April 16: Maoist rebels attacked a police outpost in a remote, thickly forested area of the central Indian state of Chattisgarh, killing 10 policemen, a police official said on Sunday.

The attack, the latest in a series carried out by the guerrillas, occurred near Dantewada, 500 km south of the state capital, Raipur.

“Maoist rebels armed with sophisticated weapons opened fire at around noon at a police outpost in Dantewada district and killed 10 policemen,” police spokesman Ajay Srivastava told Reuters, adding that no other details were available.

The rebels have already killed more than 100 people in the area this year, mainly in the mineral-rich Bastar region. They have a sizeable presence in half of the state’s 16 districts.

The Maoists, who operate out of jungle bases across a swathe of 13 Indian states running up the eastern flank of the country, say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers.

The Indian government considers rising Maoist violence as the gravest threat to the country’s internal security since independence and has urged state governments to improve intelligence gathering and modernise police force.—Reuters