13 Maoists Killed in Andhra Pradesh Forest Encounters

Security forces killed seven suspected members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in a gunfight in the Maredumilli forests of Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Wednesday morning, continuing an operation that began earlier in the week. The clash, which occurred around 7 a.m. and was about 7 kilometers from the site of a previous encounter, involved four men and three women, according to police statements. One of those killed was identified as Meturi Joga Rao, also known as Tech Shankar, a senior figure in the group's Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee.

The Wednesday encounter followed a Tuesday gunfight in the same forested area, where six Maoists, including top commander Madvi Hidma, died during an exchange of fire that started around 6 a.m. Hidma, a central committee member who led the Maoists' People's Liberation Guerrilla Army Battalion No. 1, had evaded capture for years despite his role in multiple attacks on security personnel. Born in 1981 in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, he joined the group in the late 1990s and rose through its ranks, specializing in guerrilla tactics. Among those killed with him were his wife, Raje, and four...