India, May 21 -- At least 26 Maoists were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Wednesday, state home minister Vijay Sharma said.

Sharma said that more than 26 Maoists have been killed, and a search operation is going on.

"The operation has been going on for the last 72 hours. More than 26 Maoists were killed in the encounter on Wednesday," said Sharma.

He said a senior leader is also likely to be killed in the encounter and additional details on the same will be provided later.

The encounter was carried out by DRG teams of four districts - Dantewada, Kanker, Bijapur and Kondagaon.

With ongoing efforts to clear IEDs and improve infrastructure in Maoist-affected areas, the government is focused...