Bijapur: In one of the biggest blows to Maoist insurgency in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh this year, security forces eliminated 18 Naxalites in a fierce encounter in the dense Keshkutul forests of Bijapur district.

The toll rose from an initial report of 12 to 18 after thorough combing operations recovered six more bodies from the encounter site on Thursday morning.

The gun battle erupted on Wednesday when a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), CoBRA commandos of the CRPF, and local police, acting on specific intelligence, launched an anti-Naxal operation in the jurisdiction of Gangaloor police station.

Also Read: 2 DRG personnel martyred, 7 Maoists killed in anti-LWE operation in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur-Dantewada

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