[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: With 10 Maoists killed on Friday in an encounter with the security forces at Sukma, Chhattisgarh, the total fatalities among Left-wing extremists since January 1, 2024 have touched 257.
According to home ministry sources, while 861 Naxalites have been arrested so far this year, the total number of surrenders over the same period stands at 789.
There was a time when Maoists, even if they suffered fatalities, would invariably carry back their dead. This trend has since changed, with 207 bodies of neutralised cadres and leaders accounted for by the counter-Naxal forces so far this year following encounters spread over the seven districts of Bastar region in Chhattisgarh, according to Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar range Sundarraj P.
At least 14 of top CPI(Maoist) leaders have so far been eliminated in intelligence-based, counter-Naxal operations.
As regards casualties inflicted by the Maoists, these had dipped to 96 — reaching sub-100 levels for the first time in four decades — till September this year, from a high of 1005 in 2010.
Counter-Naxal forces are moving deeper into CPI(Maoist) bastions and setting up security camps there as part of an area domination exercise and to facilitate a development and administration outreach. “The security vacuum in what were once ‘liberated’ CPI(Maoist) zones has been filled by setting up as many as 279 new forward operating bases (FOBs) and camps and expanding the counter-Naxal grid,” said a senior home ministry officer.
As per the goal outlined by home minister Amit Shah, Left-wing extremism should be completely eliminated from the country by March 2026. The intensified counter-operations by the security forces in Bastar are in the direction of achieving this target.
[ad_2]
Source link