ANKARA

Ten security personnel and their driver were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, officials and local media said.

The incident occurred in the Dantewada district, according to a statement issued by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's office.

"The news of the martyrdom of our 10 DRG (District Reserve Guard) jawans and a driver due to IED (improvised explosive device) blast on the DRG force which had arrived for anti-Naxal operation on the information of the presence of Maoist cadre under Aranpur police station area of Dantewada is very sad," it said.

Press Trust of India news agency said, citing police sources, "Naxalites blew up the mini-goods van in which the security personnel were travelling by using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED)."

The Naxalites are an insurgent group that draws inspiration from far-left radical communists who support Maoist political ideology.

Maoist rebels have been fighting for more than three decades in eastern and central India for what they describe as the rights of tribal people.

Sundar Raj, a top police officer in the state, told the media that the bodies of the victims are being evacuated from the scene and that a search operation "is underway in the area."​​​​​​​