12 Naxalites gunned down by security forces in Chhattisgarh

Twelve Naxalites were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, a senior police official said.

The gunfight broke out at around 9 am in a forest of south Bijapur when a joint team of security personnel was out an anti-Naxalite operation and the intermittent exchange of fire lasted till late in the evening, he said.

Personnel belonging to the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) from three districts, five battalions of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action - an elite jungle warfare unit of the CRPF) and the 229th battalion of the CRPF were involved in the operation, he said.

"As per preliminary information, 12 Naxalites were killed in the gunfight. Further details were awaited as a search operation was still under way in the area," the official said.

No harm was reported to security forces, he said.

With this, 26 Naxalites have been gunned down in separate encounters in the state so far this month.