The chief minister of the state of Chhattisgarh reported that Indian forces killed at least 12 Maoists in a gunfight in central India on Friday. This was the third significant encounter in as many weeks during the ongoing national elections, according to Reuters.

The rebels, who follow a form of communism propagated by the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting the government for decades in central and eastern India using a guerilla strategy, resulting in sporadic skirmishes and losses on both sides.

In Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, security forces killed twelve rebels, according to Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai.

The conflict takes place on Friday over a month after the state saw the deaths of 29 Maoists and 10 others on April 30.

Maoists claim they are fighting for increased land ownership rights and a stronger claim to minerals that they claim are being exploited by large mining corporations for the benefit of impoverished Indian farmers and laborers without land.

On May 7, the state's general election's third phase concluded with voting for every seat. The date of the vote count is June 4.

During a campaign visit in Chhattisgarh last month, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah pledged to eradicate insurgency from the state in three years should Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) be re-elected.