Maoist Attack on Indian Troops!

Pointblank

Senior Member
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

a lot of the weapons are actually hand made by villagers all over the place. there are entire villages of which the income depends on this stuff. they make thousands of AK's every year then sell them.

as for China, i highly doubt that it could be a source of weapon acquisition. the Chinese keep a REALLY tight control of firearms. it doesnt matter how "corrupt" you are, you simply dont mess with this stuff cuz when you get caught, its almost certain death sentence, especially for the military.

Then explain the vast amounts of Chinese surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, landmines, rocket-propelled grenades and components for roadside bombs that are found in Afghanistan by Coalition forces, much of it brand new. And most often, the ammunition is traced to a PLA military facility.

Not that long ago, NORINCO was caught by the US Customs Service trying to smuggle 2,000 AK-47's into the US to arm US street gangs, and offered to sell surface-to-air missiles to gangs as well.
 

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

More info on the weapons used by the Maoists. Looks like they are getting their weapons from illegal markets in China and Burma. I am inclined to think that they are also supported by the Nepalese Maoists.

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New Delhi, April 8: Two days after Maoist guerrillas killed 76 security personnel in Chhattisgarh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Thursday said the leftist insurgents were procuring arms from “across the border”.

“There are bazaars across the border. You can always get arms from there. Where do you think northeast rebels are getting the arms from,” Chidambaram told reporters.

“There are several places across the border where you can buy arms. You can Google check… You should visit these places if you have not,” he said.

The home minister said India shared an open border with Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar through which the rebels were clandestinely smuggling weapons.

Chidambaram said the government would probe “into the lapses” that led to the worst ever attack on security forces Tuesday.

“We will launch a full probe into what went wrong, look into the lapses,” he said.

He said the operations in Dantewada region where Maoists staged the bloodbath in the Chintalnar hilly area was a joint decision of state police and central paramilitary troopers.

Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai last year said that the leftist rebels were getting arms from illegal weapons markets in China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Another point I'd like to make, after doing a bit of research, is that the Maoists employ fairly low tech weapons. According to tiexue most of the Maoists are using Lee-Enfield rifles and some of them are even using bow and arrows. You can see pictures of Maoist equipments on t his website:

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rhino123

Pencil Pusher
VIP Professional
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Getting guns are kind of easy, actually guns and stuff can be manufactured without much problem... but what I am puzzle about is the ammunition. Ammunitions, unlike rifles and pistols, required specific sets of skills and knowledge... thus it is pretty difficult to built.
 

Pointblank

Senior Member
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Getting guns are kind of easy, actually guns and stuff can be manufactured without much problem... but what I am puzzle about is the ammunition. Ammunitions, unlike rifles and pistols, required specific sets of skills and knowledge... thus it is pretty difficult to built.

Actually, gunsmithery is not a easy trade, especially if we are talking about weapons of decent quality, can use full-power rounds, and are somewhat durable. Metallurgy is a difficult science, and weapons that don't have the correct alloys are often very dangerous weapons for their users.

Furthermore, for some of the more advanced weapons such as automatic weapons, milling machines are at minimum required to machine parts to an acceptable tolerance so they don't malfunction after the first shot. Gun making is not a easy art.
 

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Keep in mind that it is difficult to make "quality" firearms. People have constructed working firearms out of plumbing pipes before and given the current state of Naxalite weaponry, I'm pretty sure that they will be happy with any gun that they come across.

As for ammunition I am pretty sure that they are provided by arms dealers as well. It is also possible that the Naxalites capturing ammo from Indian Soldiers... Any how I think ammunition (a lack of) is a major problem for the Maoists.
 

Red Moon

Junior Member
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Of course Indian media sources are going to point "across the border" no matter what. This proves nothing. It is true that there is corruption in China, but there is even more in India! One article I read a few months ago mentioned that the Indian army was having difficulty recruiting and retaining officers, because of the low pay. Wouldn't this be the natural place to look? If your weapons and munitions come both from black market sources and from the battlefield, isn't it better if they are all compatible? Utilizing black market sources in India itself would ensure this. Moreover, transportation would be much simpler, and you would not have to risk any border crossings. It is also well known that the civilian population in China does not own guns. Smuggling from China would have to involve the military at some level. I think getting them from Indian sources would be much simpler.
 

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Agreed. The fact that over 80 Indian soldiers died and 15 were wounded and only one Maoist was killed proves the fact that there are major issues with the Indian military. I still find it shocking that about 100 soldiers with AKs and bullet-proof vests couldn't handle the insurgents. Does this remind anyone of the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War?
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Its laughable to suggest that the Maoist weapons and ammo came from China, and you can be sure the Indian media would be screaming it from the rooftops if there was any kind of 'proof' whatsoever to back up these ridiculous accusations.

Myanmar, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan are far more credible external sources for illegal arms. But you can be sure that the Indian military itself would also be responsible for supplying them with a considerable amount either through corrupt officials or complete f*** ups like this, where the rebels are likely to have captured a good proportion of the dead soldiers' weapons and supplies after the battle.

To have lost 80 men dead for 1 killed in return is pretty damn atrocious! You'd raise your eyebrows at such figures even if it was two comparable national armies fighting each other.

If thats the quality of Indian soldiers these days, the Maoists would have overran half the damn country if China was really giving them military support.
 

bladerunner

Banned Idiot
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Im pretty sure they were'nt front line army soilders. In fact reading some comments made by Indians in a variety of magazines, they were'nt army in the strictest sense.
 
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vesicles

Colonel
Re: Maoist Attack on Indian Troop!

Then explain the vast amounts of Chinese surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, landmines, rocket-propelled grenades and components for roadside bombs that are found in Afghanistan by Coalition forces, much of it brand new. And most often, the ammunition is traced to a PLA military facility.

Not that long ago, NORINCO was caught by the US Customs Service trying to smuggle 2,000 AK-47's into the US to arm US street gangs, and offered to sell surface-to-air missiles to gangs as well.

If PLA officials dare to sell things like surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, landmines, rocket-propelled grenades to some poorly financed foreign groups, it would be lot easier for these officials to sell small weapons to well-financed and well-connected Chinese underlords. Then Chinese cities would be infested with machine guns. Although we hear stories about gun fighting in China, it is still a seldom thing.

That means that smuggling guns by PLA officials does not happen that often.
 
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