The jawans had gone to Sukma district bordering Andhra Pradesh on a search operation. (Press Trust of India)
Seven jawans of the Special Task Force (STF) of Chhattisgarh Police were killed and 12 injured in an encounter with Naxals in Pedmal forest in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district today.
According to initial reports, the 61-strong STF squad had gone to Dornapal area in Sukma district, bordering Andhra Pradesh on a search operation when about 100 Naxals attacked them. The jawans retaliated and the encounter went on for over two hours.
Police sources say the casualty may rise.
The police said that the injured jawans are being airlifted in two choppers to Jagdalpur for better medical treatment. The jawans, who were killed, sustained bullet injuries, the police said.
Two teams of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have rushed to the ecounter site for assisting the police squad and launching 'cordon-and-search' operations, they said.
74 CRPF jawans were killed in Sukma in a deadly attack in April, 2010. In 2013, 25 people, including top Congress leaders of Chhattisgarh, were killed in a Naxal ambush in the state.