At least two Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, January 29, 2026, a police official said. The gunfight began at 7 a.m. in a southern forest area when the District Reserve Guard (DRG) team was conducting an anti-Naxalite operation. Authorities recovered the bodies of two Maoists, one AK-47 rifle, a 9-mm pistol, and other arms and explosives from the site. The operation is still ongoing. This incident raises the number of Maoists killed in separate encounters this year in Chhattisgarh to at least 22. Earlier, 14 Maoists were killed in two encounters in the Bastar region on January 3. In 2025, a total of 285 Maoists were killed in clashes with security forces in the state. The central government aims to eradicate Left-Wing Extremism by March 31 this year.