Threat from within! It is real!

Indian soldiers killed in Maoist ambushes

While the Central Government Home Minister Chidambaram and the West Bengal Chief Minister Bhattaachaarya continued their blame game, the Naxals dealt a heavy blow to the Centre's Operation Green Hunt on Tuesday, ambushing and killing at least 70 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans on their way back from a three-day operation.

From a hilltop in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, about 300 Naxals opened fire at the CRPF patrol party of 120 men. Initial reports said 20 jawans had been killed, but it was soon clear that casualties would be higher. While the state home minister Nankiram Kanwar put the toll at 50 to 60, police confirmed that at least 70 people had died.

The death toll could be higher still. The incident took place in dense forest and search and relief operations are slow and still on.

The attack took place at 6 am on Tuesday morning. The Naxals, with a territorial advantage, were lying in wait. As the CRPF patrol party drew up at the spot, the Naxals used landmines to blow up an anti-landmine vehicle.

They then fired at the patrol party from all directions. The jawans had been camping in the interiors of Tarmetla jungles looking for Naxal camps for three days and would have been returning very tired.

They were taken aback by the ambush, but the CRPF jawans fired back.

The rebels then attacked a convoy of troops which had been sent to rescue their colleagues. A third rescue party was also attacked by rebels, police said, adding that clashes were still ongoing.

It is unclear how many soldiers were killed in each attack.

The police confirms that by 11.30 am, the encounter had ended, and that its personnel were looking for dead bodies.

Dantewada has long been home turf for Naxals in Chattisgarh. The dense forest area is full of landmines.

The Naxal attack is seen as retaliation against the government's Operation Greenhunt- launched in Orissa and Chhattisgarh to clear Naxals.

Today's attack comes two days after Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel and injuring several others in Orissa's Koraput district.

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It is high time for the Governments to act!