Rebels kill 49 police officers in India:

[Praxius]

CTV.ca | Rebels kill 49 police officers in India

Communist rebels armed with rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs attacked a police post in the jungles of eastern India on Thursday, killing at least 49 officers, police said.

The pre-dawn attack Thursday was the latest in a series of increasingly bold assaults by the rebels, who have been fighting for more than two decades in central and eastern India's long-impoverished hinterlands.

Equipped with rifles, hand grenades and homemade petrol bombs, the insurgents appeared to have caught the 79 officers guarding the remote post by surprise, Swarnkar said. Another 12 officers were wounded in the attack.

49 police officers killed in eastern India

Before fleeing with weapons stolen from the police post, the attackers scattered landmines around the area, making it difficult for security forces to give chase, Swarnkar said. By midday, police reinforcements had reached the post and were fanning out into the jungle to search for the attackers.

Communist rebels storm Indian police post, kill 49 officers

More than 6,000 people — police, soldiers, and civilians — have been killed since the rebels launched their campaign from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh more than two decades ago.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, demand land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor. They are mainly active in six of India's 28 states — Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa and Chattisgarh.

[Osborn F Enready]

Wow, India is such a pinnacle of democracy.

Sure am glad we trade so freely with them, since they are such a model of our ideals.

[fushigi]

Yet another confirmation that lack of development is the cause of nearly all modern war. Why are almost all modern wars fought in countries with low sustainable human development indicators? It's not a coincidence!

When is the world going to realize that if you really want to end war, you have to convince potential soldiers that the benefits of making a peaceful living outweigh the costs of joining a war???

[Praxius]

It's all about money and power.... the movie Blood Diamond kinda explains the basic mentality in such areas........ and at times can be taken advantage by those who already have money and power.... they fuel those who don't have any with whatever propaganda they deem fit, and they promise a better future if they fight with them..... all the while these guys are dieing for the one with money and power, they get richer and more powerful.