Nine people, including eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and a driver, were killed when Naxals triggered an IED explosion in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. The incident occurred on Monday on the Bedre-Kutru road, according to IG Bastar.
The DRG personnel from Dantewada were returning after a joint operation involving teams from Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Bijapur. The Naxal attack highlights ongoing tensions in the region.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday vowed to eliminate Naxals from the country by March 2026 and asserted that the sacrifice of those killed by the extremists in Chhattisgarh will not go in vain.
"I am deeply saddened by the news of the loss of DRG soldiers in an IED blast in Bijapur (Chhattisgarh). I express my deepest condolences to the families of the brave soldiers.
"It is impossible to express this grief in words, but I assure you that the sacrifice of our soldiers will not go in vain. We will end Naxalism in India by March 2026," he said in a post on 'X' in Hindi.
This was the biggest strike by Maoists on security forces in the state in the last two years and the first assault in 2025.
Recent Naxal encounter in Chhattisgarh
The IED attack coincided with the conclusion of a major operation in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region. Security forces reported the death toll of Naxals in an encounter rising to five after recovering another body on Monday morning.
The gunfight began Saturday evening in a forested area near south Abujhmaad, along the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts. A joint team comprising DRG personnel from Narayanpur, Bastar, Kondagaon, and Dantewada, along with the Special Task Force (STF), conducted the anti-Naxal operation launched on Friday.
Initially, four Naxal bodies were recovered on Sunday, followed by one more on Monday, including two women. DRG head constable Sannu Karam also lost his life during the encounter.
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