Indian security forces kill 8 Maoist rebels

HYDERABAD, India – Indian police say they have killed at least eight Maoist rebels in fighting in southern India.

Police officer Amber Kishore says police seized a large cache of arms from the insurgents after the clash Thursday in Telangana state. No police casualties have been reported.

Indian soldiers have been battling the rebels in several states since 1967, when the militants — also known as Naxalites — began fighting to demand more jobs, land and wealth from natural resources for poor indigenous communities.

The government says the insurgents, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, pose the country's most serious internal security threat.

In their deadliest attack in 2010, rebels killed 76 soldiers in Chhattisgarh, one of the most-affected states.