Indian police have killed 31 suspected Maoist rebels in what is being described as the “biggest ever operation” against the long-running insurgency, which the government considers one of the country’s biggest security threats.

Military operations have intensified in recent weeks as the government has set a deadline of next year to defeat a decades-old Maoist insurgency.

Minister says death of Nambala Keshav Rao is breakthrough in struggle against decades-long Naxalite insurgency