Ten police officers and driver killed after van blown up in India

India's eastern Chhattisgarh state has been marred by a long-running violent insurgency involving Maoist group

At least 10 police officers and their driver were killed on Wednesday after their vehicle was blown up by explosives allegedly planted by Maoists in India's eastern Chhattisgarh state.

Those killed were members of the District Reserve Guard, a special anti-insurgency force of the state police comprising mostly tribal men who are trained to combat Maoists.

The state has been marred by a decades-long violent insurgency by armed Maoist rebels also known as Naxals.

The police van was returning from an anti-Maoist operation, state Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, when it was blown up by an improvised explosive device in Dantewada, 450km from the state capital Raipur.

Maoists have neither denied nor confirmed carrying out the attack.

Mr Baghel described the incident as “sad” and said "none of the Naxals involved in the attack will be spared".

“We the people of the state pay our respects to them. We all share in the grief of their families. May their soul rest in peace,” Mr Baghel said on Twitter of those killed.

In 2021, in one of the Maoists' bloodiest attacks, about 22 security personnel were killed and 31 injured after soldiers were ambushed in the Sukma-Bijapur area of Chhattisgarh.