Suspected Maoist rebels have attacked a village in India's eastern Jharkhand state, killing at least 15 people and wounding six others.
Authorities in the Giridih district say that, just before dawn, about two hundred Maoists hauled people out of their homes before gunning them down.The victims were members of a village defense committee, armed and trained by India's security forces to defend against attacks by Maoist insurgents. Thousands of people have been killed in three decades of Maoist insurgency in India. The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of landless workers and farmers. Authorities in different states have tried to hold a dialogue with the rebels in the past, but so far there is little headway in controlling the guerrillas.
