New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi today remembered his party leaders who died in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh on this day in 2013, saying they gave their lives for the country.

"5 years ago on this day today, I lost my friend Nand Kumar Patel in a frightening naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, senior leaders V C Shukla ji, Mahendra Karma Ji and many others, who lost their lives and were injured.

"All these patriots gave their lives for the country. We salute their valour and courage," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

At least 26 people were killed in the Naxal attack on a convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha Valley in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on May 25, 2013.

Former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel were among those killed. Former union minister and senior Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla, who was seriously injured in the attack, succumbed to his injuries on June 11, 2013.

The attack happened a few months before the assembly elections in the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)