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Indian Forces Move to Retake Villages from Maoists


Specially trained police and elite paramilitary forces are moving against Maoist rebels holding several villages in a remote part of eastern India.

Indian officials Thursday sent hundreds of troops into the remote and heavily-forested Lalgarh area of West Bengal state despite resistance from villagers who were helping the Maoists set up roadblocks.

Witnesses say police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse sympathizers.

Police officials accused the Maoists of using women and children as human shields but said they would try to recapture the area, about 170 kilometers from Kolkata, while minimizing any bloodshed.

Indian authorities accuse the Maoists of killing at least five members of the region's ruling communist party, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, earlier this week.

They also say members of a Maoist-backed tribal group have set fire to police stations.

In a separate incident, Indian police accused Maoist rebels of killing at least nine policemen with a landmine in the neighboring state of Orissa.

The Maoist rebels are part of a wider group of insurgents known as Naxalites who say they fight for the rights of the poor.

Communist Party politburo member Sitaram Yechury, speaking in New Delhi, told reporters he is optimistic Indian forces will regain control quickly. But the Maoist's purported military commander, Koteshwar Rao, known as Kishanji, says his forces are entrenched and have the support of some 2,000 villagers.

Many farmers in West Bengal have been angered by plans to build large industrial plants in rural areas. Tuesday, suspected Maoist rebels killed at least four policemen in a gun battle in the neighboring state of Jharkhand.

The Naxalites are active in at least 13 of India's 29 states. Their decades-long insurgency has left thousands dead.
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