India, specifically the eastern states. Prior to the merger with the CPI-M, the MCC's territory extended over Bihar and Jharkhand, with some influence in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and a few parts of Madhya Pradesh. The PWG's areas of dominance included Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

The CPI-M is estimated to be active in 156 districts of 13 states, including: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. It is trying to expand its presence in several other states, including: Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

The group's ultimate goal is the creation of a Maoist state in India. To achieve that end, the CPI advocates peasant revolution, the abolition of class hierarchies and the expansion through violence of Maoist-controlled "liberated" zones.

Some estimates place the CPI-M strength at up to 31,000 militants and dedicated sympathizers. Indian government estimates in the past few years assert that the Maoists now have fewer than 10,000 hard-core fighters. The group is considered by many experts to be the most significant rebel threat to the Indian state.

The CPI-M and its two component groups have loose links to other national and international communist movements, including the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist. Foreign groups or governments are not believed to be a significant source of aid for the CPI-M, either financially or in terms of weapons.

The CPI-M attempts to run a parallel government where it is strongest, even providing infrastructure improvements such as hospitals, schools and irrigation projects. In return, it charges what amounts to taxes from the citizens of those areas. Other funds come from extortion of larger businesses and landowners. Most of the group's weapons, which include small arms and land mines, are stolen from police or local industry.

In classic Maoist style, the CPI-M makes its base in the rural areas and has been expanding its operations into the towns and smaller cities. Large landowners, bureaucrats, police and politicians, presumed by the communists to be corrupt, are frequent targets for assassination.

Operations are usually undertaken by small groups of fighters, although the scale has grown in recent years. One attack on a jail to free communist fighters involved as many as 200 members. According to the Indian government, Naxalite violence results in 600-900 deaths annually.

The CPI-M is a recent development in the long history of Communist revolution in India. The MCC was formed in 1969 as Daksin Desh, espousing a Maoist revolutionary ideology. The People's War Group (PWG) was formed in 1980. It held to a more traditional Marxist-Leninist view. Both groups embraced violent armed struggle to achieve their goals, which put them at odds with the communist political groups that participated in the Indian political process.

The groups operated separate campaigns over the next 20 years. The weaker MCC was concentrated in Bihar and Jharkand, while the more prominent PWG had its base of power in Andhra Pradesh. In areas where their territories overlapped, especially after 1998, they sometimes became violent rivals until a cease-fire in 2000.

In 2004, the groups agreed to merge. The respective armed wings of the MCC and PW, known as the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army and the People's Guerrilla Army, respectively, were joined to form the new People's Liberation Guerrilla Army.

The CPI-M is reportedly governed in a similar manner to its two predecessors. The top level of control is exercised by the Central Committee, but committees are organized at the regional, state, district and squad-area levels. The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army is said to be subdivided into basic, secondary and main forces.

The merger has resulted in a stronger insurgency, which is believed to be expanding in terms of members and territory. Of concern is the possibility that the CPI-M could create what is called a Compact Revolutionary Zone extending from Nepal through Bihar in the north through the Dandakaranya region (forest areas in central India) to Andhra Pradesh in the south. Such a CRZ could facilitate linkages with other Maoist groups operating in South Asia -- such as the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) and the Communist Party of Bhutan-Maoist (CPB-M) -- while splitting the country and providing the Maoists their own contiguous state within a state.

In 2005, a Salwa Judum movement emerged in opposition to Maoist elements. The movement had some popular support and the government took an active role in promoting Salwa Judum as a method for counterinsurgency efforts against Maoist rebels. Founded by Mahendra Karma in the Dantewada District, the emergence of Salwa Judum resulted in significant fighting between Maoist supporters and anti-Maoist groups in Naxalite-controlled areas, with civilians caught in between.

Early in 2007, The Hindu reported that the movement was responsible for significant violence against women, resulting in calls for the government to cease its support of the group. It is unclear if Salwa Judum has had any meaningful impact on Naxalite operations, as numerous cases have arisen in which Salwa Judum supporters have been assassinated by Naxalite rebels as a warning to government supporters.

India remains very vulnerable to insurgency and terrorist groups. The country's large size, both in terms of population and geography, poses problems for the implementation of counter-terrorism actions. A slow-moving court system and corruption impede the prosecution of terrorists. As a result of the Bombay (Mumbai) terrorist attack in November 2008, India has taken several steps to improve its counter-terrorism capabilities. Poverty is a key factor exploited by the CPI-Maoist faction.

According to an April 2008 U.S. State Dept. report, more than 900 terrorist incidents occurred in 2007 in India.

Indian national elections, scheduled for April and May 2009, could provide openings for communist-associated groups to exploit. While CPI-M has no political standing and is outlawed, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India have fielded candidates.

Sept. 24: PWG members killed 13 border security personnel in Warangal district, Andhra Pradesh.

December: Ranvir Sena killed 58 laborers in Lakshmanpur-Bathe, in the Jehanabad district of Bihar.

October: The People's War Group merged with the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist to create the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (People's War), or People's War for short.

December: The MCC killed 35 members of the upper castes at Senari, Jhenabad district.

December: Likhiram Kavre, the state transport minister of Madhya Pradesh, was assassinated by the PW.

Feb. 12: The MCC killed 19 police and three civilians with a land-mine explosion during state elections in Jharkand province.

August: The two rival Naxalite groups began a dialogue that led to joint activities and, by August 2003, steps toward a merger.

Oct. 31: The MCC killed 13 police personnel at Topchanchi near Dhanbad in Jharkhand province.

Dec. 5: The MCC and PWG were banned by the Indian government.

Nov. 18: PWG Naxalites detonated a land mine under a moving bus, killing 20 people and injuring 16 in Chintagudem village, in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh.

Dec. 20: MCC militants ambushed a police convoy in Jharkand province, killing 18 police and injuring 20 more. The rebels burned 11 police vehicles and seized their arms and ammunition.

Oct. 24: Andhra Pradesh security forces killed two top leaders of the PWG near Venkatreddypuram forests in Guntur district.

Nov. 12: Around 300 MCC militants attacked a police patrol party near Rerha village in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

June 16: The government of the Andhra Pradesh province declared a three-month cease-fire with the PWG.

Sept. 21: People's War and the MaoistCommunistCenter merged to form the CPI-M.

October: Peace talks originally scheduled between the state governments and the PWG yielded no resolution.

June: Salwa Judum was launched as an opposition movement against Maoist rebels.

July 2: CPI-M members shot and killed Chhoti Mahato, a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, traveling in West Midnapore district.

July 3: Gunmen from CPI-M shot and killed a Congress Party leader in the Nilabaya area of Dantewara District. The slain official, Chhannuram Watti, had previously taken part in the anti-Maoist Salwa Judum movement.

July 4: Group members assaulted the Tankuppa police station in Gaya District. After a three-hour gun battle, the attackers blew up the building, killing two police officers and injuring two others.

July 10: A Congress Party leader, Kotla Nasar Reddy, was killed by CPI-M members in Prakasam district because he was alleged to be a police informant.

July 17: CPI-M raided a government relief camp in Chhattisgarh, Dantewara district, killing 17 villagers, injuring 70 and kidnapping 20 more.

July 27: Maoists abducted 19 women from the Salwa Judum relief camp in Togugudem village in Dantewara district.

Aug. 19: Maoist rebels attacked a police station in Nalgonda, near Hyderabad, executing three policemen. The gunmen then bombed the station.

Nov. 24: A leader of the ruling Congress Party named Rami Reddy, the president of the Bollapalle Mandal Praja Parishad in Andhra Pradesh, was assassinated in his home by CPI-M rebels.

Feb. 27: CPI-M rebels attacked a police camp in Bihar, killing four police officers and wounding three others.

March 4: CPI Maoists assassinated Sunil Mahato, a member of parliament, during a soccer game in Jamshedpur. Two of Mahato's bodyguards were also killed in the attack, as well as a local secretary of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, Prabhakar Mahato. Sunil Mahato was the general secretary of JMM and a member of the lower house of parliament. Two other bodyguards were kidnapped by the CPI-M.

March 5: Naxalite rebels killed Prem Prakash, a member of the Congress Party affiliated with the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) in Mahabubnagar.

June 5: A CPI-Maoist-triggered land mine blast killed three employees of the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board and wounded five special task force personnel near Kapsi in the Narayanpur district. The group was traveling by truck to repair electricity towers that had been blown up by Maoists on June 1.

Sept. 21: Security forces arrested a top-ranking Maoist leader, Misir Besra, in the Khunti district in Jharkhand. A member of the Central Military Commission and the Politburo of the CPI-M, Besra was believed to be the architect of several armed attacks against the security forces in Jharkhand, including one in which more than 55 policemen were killed.

Oct. 27: CPI-M militants killed 18 persons in the Giridih district, including the son of the former Jharkhand chief minister. Police reported that 25-30 Maoists mingled with the crowd at a cultural program, then indiscriminately opened fire and detonated explosives.

Dec. 12:A group of about 50 armed CPI-M militants killed three policemen during an attack on the Bishrampur Police station in the Bastar district.

Nov. 16: CPI-M militants killed three civilians from the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, accusing the victims of being police informants.

Feb. 15: About 500 CPI-M militants killed 14 policemen and a civilian during an attack on a police training school. In a pre-attack warning, the group said they would not harm the public and were only interested in targeting the police. The militants escaped with police ammunition. Sabyasachi Panda, the CPI-Maoist secretary for Andhra-Orissa, was suspected of being behind the attack.

March 18: Combined security forces from Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh killed 17 CPI-M militants near the Pamedu police station in the Bijapur district. Police recovered an AK-47, three self-loading rifles and land mines.

June 8: Three members of a security force were killed in the Durg district when their jeep was destroyed by a roadside bomb allegedly planted by CPI-M militants.

June 29: CPI-M militants killed 35 security personnel during an attack carried on the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa police facility. The security personnel were returning after conducting a sweep operation following a tip about Maoist activity.

Aug. 21: Two CPI-M militants and six policemen were killed during an exchange of fire after the Maoists carried out an attack on a policeman who was conducting a routine inspection of a branch of the Punjab National Bank in Raniganj village.

Sept. 17: Three CPI-M militants, including a section commander, were killed in an encounter near Ghamapahari in the Chatra district. The exchange occurred after a special task force of police and other security personnel carried out a raid based on a tip about a Maoist gathering.

Nov. 11: Police killed three suspected CPI-Maoist militants during a gun battle in the Bastar region. The exchange took place when a police search squad was challenged by the militants.

March 23: A unit of the CPI-M group called for a boycott of national elections. In a statement, the Maoists predicted that the top political parties would promote hunger and repression in the country.

April 13: A large band of 250 CPI-M militants raided the bauxite mine at Koraput Damanjodi. Ten members of a 22-person security force were killed. Heavy casualties were reported among the militants.

April 21: Police arrested four Maoists suspected of participating in the attacks on the Nalco bauxite mines at Damanjodi. Police also recovered handguns and explosive material.