Four Naxalites killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur
Bijapur (PTI): Security forces on Saturday gunned down four Naxalites, including senior cadre Dilip Vedja, in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, police said.
The gunfight broke out in the morning in the forested hills of the district’s northwest region, where a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav said.
He said that personnel belonging to the Special Task Force and District Reserve Guard, both state police units, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) -- an elite unit of CRPF -- were involved in the operation, which was launched based on inputs about the presence of Vedja, a divisional committee member, in the area.
“During the search, the bodies of two Maoists were recovered from the encounter site by noon. Subsequently, bodies of two more Maoist cadres, including a woman, were recovered in the evening,” Yadav said.
Weapons, including AK-47 rifle and .303 rifle, have also been recovered from the spot, he said, adding that a search operation is underway.
One of the neutralised Naxalites has been identified as Dilip Vedja, who was active in the national park area committee of Maoists and had been involved in several attacks, the official said.
Preliminary information suggests the three other killed cadres belonged to the same area committee, though their identity was yet to be ascertained, he added.
On January 3, as many as 14 Naxalites were gunned down in two encounters in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Bijapur.
A total of 285 Naxalites were killed in encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh last year.
The Centre has set the deadline of March 31, 2026, to eradicate Left-Wing Extremism in the country.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
