The horrific attack by Maoists on Monday, that killed 26 jawans in Chhattisgarh’s South Sukma region was shocking news. One of the senior officials revealed the jawans had a moment of distraction after having lunch, that would have led to the Maoists being able to ambush them.
After speaking to survivors reports have been made that the Maoists used their usual weapons, which was a bow and arrow, but with improvised explosive devices tied to the arrows. This strategy resulted in a mass attack killing 26 and injuring 7 people.
A senior official explained that this had never been seen before and that it is extremely worrying that the Maoist cadres who are mostly tribals are able to build IEDs and tie them to the arrows causing mass destruction.
The Maoists planned the attack and sent villagers to the road to report the soldiers’ positions. This gave them an advantage and nearly 300 Maoist guerrillas including women attacked the group of 36 soldiers with AK series guns and IED explosives. The Maoist group acquired the weapons from the previous attack in Sukma earlier this year killing 12 soldiers.
One of the surviving jawans revealed that around 12 to 13 of the guerrillas were killed in the crossfire but not a single body of the leftist have been found.
Attack on @crpfindia personnel in Chhattisgarh is cowardly & deplorable. We are monitoring the situation closely.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 24, 2017
Narendra Modi took to twitter to give his condolences to the families of the 26 jawans and wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The Prime Minister also sternly said that their sacrifice will not go in vain.
