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Raipur: The Maoists, who have graduated from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare and are now in the second and final phase of Maoist military strategy, today inflicted major casualties by launching an attack on Central Reserve Police Force troops at Bhejja area of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh leaving nine security personnel dead and three others injured.

According to Inspector General of Police Sundar Raj, the security personnel of the 219 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)were attacked by the Maoists when they were engaged in a road opening exercise. While nine of the security personnel are reported killed, the number of those martyred is likely to increase.

The Maoists killed a former Sarpanch in Sukma district accusing him of helping the police on March 10.

In April 2015, Moists had carried out three consecutive terrorist attacks in quick succession. In the last of these, they had blown up a mine sweeping vehicle and killed five security personnel in Dantewada district in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. In one of the previous two attacks, they had killed a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan near Pakhanjur in Kanker district, and in the other, seven security personnel, belonging to the highly motivated Special Task Force (STF), were killed in Sukma district of Bastar.

In May 2013, the Maoists had attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in the Darbha Valley in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India killing at least 27, including veteran Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla, former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel.

In April 2010, Seventy-six valiant jawans, including the driver of the armoured vehicle, were blown to death in a land mine blast by the Maoist guerillas near the Chintalnar camp of the CRPF in Dantewada district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh. The martyred security personnel belonged to the 62nd Battalion of the CRPF were ambushed and savagely attacked.