Bus attack in India kills many

Official reports say that Maoist rebels attacked a bus earlier today in central India, killing many people.

The incident occurred in the Dantewada district of the Chhattisgarh state, when the fighters blew up a landmine underneath the bus. Al Jazeera and local television stations say up to fifty people may have died, although officials put the death toll at twenty in comments to the Agence France-Presse news service.

An official said the vehicle, although intended as a regular transport bus, was occupied primarily with security forces.

Violence in Chhattisgarh has increased recently, blamed on an Indian Maoist movement. Rebels killed 75 security personnel in the province last month. The Indian government initiated a "massive anti-Maoist offensive" in October 2009, deploying 50,000 troops to several states, among them Chhattisgarh.