Many dead' in India bus attack

Maoist rebels have attacked a bus in central India, officials say, with many people feared dead.

Reports say the bus was bombed in Chhattisgarh state's rebel stronghold of Dantewada district, and that police officers were among those on board.

Officials told the AFP news agency that at least 20 people had died; other reports gave much higher death tolls.

The rebels routinely target security forces, and thousands of people have died in their decades-long fight.

Reports said the bus was carrying both civilians and police as it travelled through Dantewada district.

The rebels are said to have detonated a landmine, destroying the front of the bus.

Local TV stations reported that as many as 50 people may have died in the attack.

Worst-hit areas

Earlier on Wednesday, the bodies of six villagers were found with their throats slit in the forests of Chhattisgarh.

Maoist rebels had kidnapped the six on the weekend, accusing them of spying for the government.

Dantewada is one of the areas worst affected by the insurgency.

Last month, the district was the scene of the worst attack the rebels have yet carried out when 75 police officers were killed.

The Maoists, also known as Naxalites, say they are fighting for the rights of rural poor who have been neglected by the government for decades.

The Maoist insurgency has been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country's biggest internal security threat.