Operation Prahar: Three jawans martyred, over dozen Naxals killed

IAF was also pressed into the service to evacuate the injured soldiers from the encounter area.

In a massive anti-naxal operation launched by the Chhattisgarh Police and CRPF in Sukma district, three jawans have been martyred while over a dozen Naxals were killed.

In joint operation named 'Operation Prahar', said to be one of the biggest operations in recent times, is aimed at flushing out the Maoists hiding in forests of Tondamarka.

"Three DRG jawans were martyred, 5 were injured. Over a dozen Naxals are dead and around 8-10 are injured," DG Naxal operations DM Awasthi told ANI.

Awasthi had on Saturday said that Naxals suffered heavy damage in the assault by the security forces as they never expected forces to launch an attack in Tondamarka.

On Saturday, it was reported that five STF jawans had sustained bullet injuries, with three reportedly seriously injured.

IAF was also pressed into the service to evacuate the injured soldiers from the encounter area. Reports say that Naxals also fired upon IAF's Mi-17 helicopters.

In April this year, 26 CPRF personnel were killed in an ambush carried out by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) during the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, which ended up being the largest since a similar 2010 attack in a neighbouring district.

OneIndia News