New Delhi - At least three Maoist rebels, including a top commander, were killed and several injured in an overnight encounter with security forces in India's eastern Jharkhand state, a news report said Tuesday.

The clash broke out late Monday when a police and paramilitary forces contingent raided a Maoist hideout in the Vishnugarh jungles in Hazaribagh district, 130 kilometres north of the state capital Ranchi, the PTI news agency reported.

Hazaribagh police chief PK Singh said nearly 350 bullets were exchanged between the two sides in shooting that lasted until Tuesday morning.

The bodies of the militants were recovered and one of the slain militants was believed to be a top commander of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Singh said.

No security personnel were injured in the gunbattle. Search operations to track wounded rebels in the jungle continued, PTI said.

Maoist militants, who claim to be fighting for the rural poor, tribal people and the landless, operate in 13 of India's 29 states.

They usually target police and government installations. Thousands of people, mostly police, paramilitary personnel and government officials, have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s.

The Indian government, which considers the Maoist insurgency to be the key internal security threat to the country, recently announced that six jungle warfare and counter-insurgency schools will be set up to fight the rebels. (dpa)