Many killed in India Maoist attack

The Indian prime minister says the Naxalites are the gravest threat to India's internal security [AP]
Hundreds of Maoist fighters in India's eastern Orissa state have attacked police stations in a district close to the provincial capital, killing 14 people and looting weapons, police and officials said.
At least 1,000 pistols were stolen during the co-ordinated attacks on Friday in Nayagarh district, about 80kms from the city of Bhubaneswar.

Rajesh Kumar, the Nayagarh police chief, said the attack lasted several hours.

All but one of the dead were policemen and there was no word of casualties among the Maoists.

Simultaneous attacks

"About 500 armed rebels rushed to Nayagarh town in vehicles and attacked a police station, armoury and police training centre, hurled bombs in several places and looted huge quantity of arms and ammunitions," Kumar said.

Another 12 policemen were wounded in the assaults.

Gopal Chandra Nanda, Orissa's director general of police, said hundreds of police and paramilitary forces are searching for the fighters, known as Naxalites.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported that the fighters took away the stolen weapons in a bus that they hijacked earlier.

However, Nanda was unable to confirm the report.

The Naxalites, who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless, regularly stage raids in eastern and central India where they have a presence.

They are called Naxalites after Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal state where the movement was born in 1967.

Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, has said the Naxalites are the gravest threat to India's internal security.