Maoists attack kills five cops in India

Suspected Maoist rebels attacked a police convoy in a remote part of eastern India, killing five officers and two civilians, police said yesterday.

The attackers set off a powerful landmine blast before opening fire on the convoy, which was on an anti-Maoist operation in the forests of Jharkhand state on Wednesday.

"Seven people died in yesterday's landmine blast," police officer Nav Kumar Singh told AFP by phone from Palamu district, 190 kilometres (120 miles) from the state capital Ranchi.

He said another six police were wounded and a search operation was under way.

The ambush is the latest in a simmering conflict that pits the insurgents against security forces in remote areas of India.

The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the rights of poor tribal minorities and farmers, have waged a decades-long battle across central and eastern Indian states to overthrow government authorities.