Three Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Thursday, state Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said.

The security forces have achieved success in the anti-Naxal operation in Sukma, he said.

So far, bodies of three Naxalites have been recovered and the search operation is still underway, Sharma, who holds the Home portfolio, told reporters in Raipur.

Referring to the IED blast triggered by Naxalites on January 6 wherein eight security personnel and a civilian driver of their vehicle were killed in Bijapur district, the deputy CM said, "There is huge anger among security forces after what Naxalites have done."

"I have met them (security forces). I reiterate that with the strength and courage of our jawans, the (Naxal) menace will be eliminated within the stipulated time," he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday vowed to eliminate Naxals from the country by March 2026 and asserted that the sacrifice of those killed by the extremists in Chhattisgarh will not go in vain.

On Thursday morning, the encounter broke out in a forest along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation, police said.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action- an elite unit of CRPF) were involved in the operation, they said.

With this, nine Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in the state so far this year.

During a three-day anti-Naxal operation by security forces in Abujhmad on the border of Narayanpur-Dantewada-Bijapur districts which concluded on January 6, five Naxalites, including two women, were killed.

On January 3, a Naxalite was killed in an encounter with security forces in Gariaband district, which falls in Raipur division.

Last year, 219 Naxalites were neutralised by security forces in separate encounters in the state.