At least seven Maoist rebels were killed in a gunbattle with security forces Friday in India"s central Chhattisgarh state, dpa quoted police as saying. The fighting took place between the militants and the state police"s Special Task Force in the forests of Bastar in the Dantewada district, about 450 kilometres south of the state capital, Raipur. "We recovered seven bodies of the militants from the scene after a 10-hour long gunbattle," district police chief Amresh Mishra said in a phone interview. "Several more rebels might have died as we found drag marks in the forests," he said. No trooper was injured in the action. "It has been the heaviest gunbattle we have fought in the recent weeks," Mishra said. Police said dozens of rebels managed to flee into the forests but the offensive against the Maoists will continue. "We are intensifying our operations against the Maoists in their stronghold," Mishra said.
