At least 14 Indian policemen have died after suspected Maoist rebels stormed a security camp in eastern India, shooting at security officials and setting fire to the site.
Authorities say the rebels ambushed the camp in the Midnapore district in the state of West Bengal Monday.
Police say some of the rebels were riding motorcycles and fired indiscriminately on police in the camp.
India has launched a military campaign in several states targeting the Maoist rebels.
Senior Indian officials have called the Maoist insurgency in some of India's most impoverished states the country's most serious internal security threat.
Officials say the rebels, called Naxalites, have spread across nearly one-third of the country - mostly in central and eastern India - since the insurgency started as a peasant uprising in 1967.
Officials say that in the past decade, more than 600 people have died annually in Maoist-linked violence. The rebels, who want to build a communist state, have been targeting security forces and infrastructure.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.