Rebel ambush kills 20 Indian soldiers

Police and paramilitary forces have been despatched to the area to hunt for the attackers

NEW DELHI, India -- Military officials in India say 20 soldiers have been killed and five injured in an ambush by rebels in the northeastern state of Tripura.

The soldiers from the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) were patrolling a road outside of the state capital, Agartala, when the attack occurred Tuesday morning local time.

According to police the attackers are thought to belong to the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), a rebel group that has been fighting for an independent homeland for several years.

Police and paramilitary soldiers have been dispatched to the area to hunt for the attackers.

India's northeastern states are home to several guerilla groups fighting low-level separatist campaigns against the Indian government.

The TSR is one of several counterinsurgency units set up by the Indian military to fight the northeastern rebels.

However, the NLFT says Indian soldiers regularly torture and abuse local tribespeople to force them to give the location of rebel fighters.

The rebels are based along the border with neighboring Bangladesh from where they launch periodic hit-and-run attacks against Indian forces.

More than 25,000 people have been killed by the separatist insurgencies in India's northeast since 1948. But Tuesday's attack is thought to be one of the deadliest in several years.