3 Indian security force personnel killed in fighting with leftwing rebels

Three Indian security force commandos were killed and over a dozen injured Thursday and Friday by suspected leftwing rebels in gunfights at the central state of Chhattisgarh, said local media.

The attack took place in the Sukma district of the state, described as a worst-affected place by activities of the Naxalite rebels, according to Press Trust of India.

Two commandos of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force died in fighting Thursday and another died on Friday, while at least 15 others were injured in the encounter which ended early Friday, according to the news report.

Security forces used Mi-17 attack helicopters to attack the rebels together with over 600 soldiers engaged in the fighting, said the report, adding that an operation was underway to retrieve the injured.

Eight Naxalite rebels were killed earlier this week in fighting with security forces in Chhattisgarh.

The gunfight broke out inside forests of Sukma district, about 392 km south of Raipur, the state capital city of Chhattisgarh.

"The gunfight started Thursday afternoon and continued for more than eight hours," the officials said.

India's official broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) quoting police officials said on Friday that bodies of the slain security personnel could not be brought from the site owning to the remoteness of the forests.

The Naxalite insurgency has its genesis in the violent left-wing rebellion that began in 1967 at village Naxalbari in Indian state of West Bengal. Currently Maoists are active in more than a third of India's 600-odd districts across central and eastern India.

India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh once termed the Naxalite movement as India's "greatest internal security challenge."

New Delhi has deployed several companies of its paramilitary forces to take on Naxals in their strongholds. Endit