Naxals hurled rockets and opened heavy gunfire at a camp of paramilitary Coy Operating Base (COB) of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh in the wee hours on Thursday.
Officials said the attack was set off at the base of the 41st battalion of the IYBP Force in Ranapal area in Chhattisgarh after it saw a gigantic number of Maoists encircling it.
“The attack was launched at about 12:40 hours and ended at 3 am today. Four rockets were fired inside the camp. Both the sides exchanged about 600 rounds of bullets,” said officials.
Naxals later took off to the jungles and no casualties were reported on the forces’ side.
Officials added, “It is estimated that about 100 armed Naxals launched the attack and a total of four rocket launchers were fired by the naxals, out of which three have been recovered. The search for the fourth one is on.’
“We have established this camp here in early January this year and since then involved in the construction of a metal road. The area is poorly developed and the local administration is keen to have a road,” an official said.
“The camp has around 100 ITBP jawans and the naxals are reported to be unhappy over the development work being initiated. ”We are surprised to see the use of projectile weapons this time. They have been fired from close range. The weapons have been fitted with direction tools as well, pointing towards an R & D they have been doing,” says the official.
With inputs from various agencies
Tags: Chhatisgarh Naxalite attacks Naxalites
