India / Naxalite Insurgency

Dozens Killed by India's Maoist Rebels in Bomb Attack
By Ashok Sharma
Associated Press dispatch in The Globe and Mail, May 17, 2010
"Maoist rebels blew up a bus filled with police and civilians Monday as it drove through central India, authorities said. News reports said 40 people were killed in the attack. The attack took place in the state of Chhattisgarh, which has been the site of fierce fighting between the Maoists and government forces in recent months. A passenger bus filled with civilians and police was travelling through the area Monday afternoon when it was hit by a rebel land mine, said Rajender Kumar Vig, a top police official in the area. Amarnath Upadhyaya, another senior police officer, said the front of the bus was destroyed and 40 to 60 people were on board. Police did not have initial casualty figures, he said. The Press Trust of India reported that at least 40 people were killed in the attack.
Attacks by the Maoists, known as Naxalites, have been increasing in recent months. The rebels ambushed a paramilitary patrol last month, killing 76 troops, and kidnapped and killed six villagers over the weekend, alleging they were police informants. The rebels, who have tapped into the rural poor's growing anger at being left out of the country's economic gains, are now present in 20 of the country's 28 states and have an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 fighters, according to India's home ministry. [...]"