Hyderabad - Nine left-wing extremists and three policemen were killed in a gun battle in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, police said. "The encounter took place at Koopuguda village in the tribal forests of Vizianagaram district," the region's director-general of police, Mr H J Dora, said.
Mr Dora said a police search party found members of the outlawed left-wing extremist People's War Group also known as Naxalites. He said the extremists opened fire when they saw the policemen. The policemen retaliated, triggering a six-hour gun battle. "The dead include a woman and two Naxalite commanders," Mr Dora said.