NEW DELHI: Maoist rebels on Tuesday detonated a land mine after ambushing a police patrol, killing at least six police officers and wounding another four in eastern India, police said.
The police officers were attacked in Garhwa district of Jharkhand state as they rushed to the area after receiving intelligence that the insurgents were hiding there, police officer Vipul Shukla said.
Those killed belonged to the Jharkhand Jaguar Force, a special police force trained for fighting the rebels. The area is 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Ranchi, the state capital.
Police reinforcements have been sent to the area, Shukla said.
The Maoist rebels, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting the Indian government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers, the poor and indigenous communities.
The government has called the rebels India’s biggest internal security threat. With thousands of fighters, the rebels control vast areas in the country.
The rebels, also known as Naxalites, have ambushed police, destroyed government offices and abducted government officials in the past.