A suspected bomb attack by Maoist rebels killed 16 Indian elite commandos on Wednesday, police said, the latest incident of election-time violence in a decades-long insurgency. "Maoists attacked a team of commandos travelling in a private vehicle to inspect an earlier attack. So far 16 men have died," an official at police headquarters in the western state of Maharashtra told AFP.
"More teams have been sent to site for rescue and combat operations," said the officer, who did not want to give his name. India is holding elections and attacks by Maoist rebels, who are active in several states, often spike as the country goes to the polls.
A second police official put the death toll in the latest incident in the Gadchiroli region of Maharashtra at 15. "Maoists torched over 30 vehicles in Gadchiroli today at 12.30pm (0700 GMT). In another blast, 15 security officers were killed and rescue operations are ongoing to ascertain the damage," Gadchiroli police official Prashant Dute told AFP. Indian forces have been fighting Maoists rebels for decades in several areas, in an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands. The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 20 Indian states but are most active in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand - and Maharashtra.