Naxals kill 3 policemen in India's Chhattisgarh gunfight

NEW DELHI, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Three policemen were killed and two others wounded Saturday in a fierce gunfight with Naxals in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said.

The gunfight broke out between the Naxals and a contingent of the police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) at Jagargunda area in Sukma district, about 515 km south of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.

"This morning a group of Naxalites ambushed a contingent of DRG in Jagargunda forests, triggering a gunfight. Three policemen were killed and two others wounded in the stand-off," a police official said. "The wounded policemen were immediately removed to a hospital."

Following the attack, contingents of police and paramilitary were rushed to the area to carry out searches for the attackers.

On Monday, Naxals killed two policemen in the Rajnandgaon district in the state.

Currently, Naxals are active across the central and eastern parts of India.

India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh once termed the Naxalite movement as India's "greatest internal security challenge."

The insurgency reportedly has claimed hundreds of lives besides rendering thousands of poor inhabitants homeless.