Nine Maoists killed in battle with Indian police
Source: ( AFP) – 1 hour ago PATNA — Indian security forces killed nine suspected Maoist guerrillas Friday in a gunfight in eastern India during a search of the area for rebels, police said. The clash marked the latest violence in an escalating fight between security forces and the ultra-leftist rebels, who are entrenched deep in jungles across a swathe of northern and eastern India. The nine rebels were shot dead in an hour-long dawn battle in a forest in the Latehar district of the mineral-rich state of Jharkhand, where Maoists have a heavy presence. "Nine Maoists were killed by security forces near Luhur forest in Latehar," Jharkhand police chief Neyaz Ahmad told AFP by telephone. Arms and ammunition were retrieved from the battle site, said another senior Latehar policeman, Kuldeep Diwedi. Diwedi said the clash occurred during ongoing operations to comb the area for Maoists. Violence by Maoist rebels in India rose in 2010, leaving a record 1,169 people dead, the