Indian Army gets nod to fire back at Maoists

SOURCE : IANS

The government has permitted the Indian Army to fire back at the Maoists in self-defence by amending the rules of engagement, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said on Tuesday.

“The army is not there to fight against Naxalism (Maoists). But at the same time the government gave them some standard operating procedures for their self-defence, that is all,” Antony told reporters here on the sidelines of a seminar.

An army officer said: “The changes in the rules of engagement entails that troops can fire back if fired upon.”

The army had early this year requested the government to change the rules of engagement for it in Chhattisgarh, where it is setting up a training centre. The army wanted to defend itself if fired upon by the Maoist rebels.

The changed standard operating procedures for the troops was for the less-than-a-brigade sized force of about 3,000 soldiers sanitising a 75-km stretch of highway in Bastar’s Kondagaon in Chattisgarh.

The force is headed to Narayanpur, also in the central Indian state, where the army has been allotted a 750-sq km area of land as a ‘manoeuvre range’ for training in jungle warfare.

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