India's government claims to have killed a top Naxalite rebel leader as part of a month-long military operation targeting the Maoist guerillas. Nambala Keshav Rao AKA "Basavaraju," secretary-general of the banned Communist Party of India–Maoist (CPI-M), was killed alongside 25 other insurgent fighters in a May 21 shoot-out in Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh state. The Naxalites have waged an armed struggle for more than two generations in the impoverished interior regions of East and Central India, but New Delhi has now vowed to clear the country of the rebel movement by March 2026. (TNH)