Dozens of government officials and politicians have fled Maoist strongholds in southern India, fearing renewed rebel attacks after the collapse of peace talks and a seven-month ceasefire, officials said. Rebels from the Peoples War Group (PWG), which has been locked in a low-intensity insurgency for more than three decades for the rights of peasants and landless labourers, called off talks with the Andhra Pradesh government this week. The collapse of talks came after nine rebels were killed in clashes with the police at the weekend. Rebels say that was a violation of a seven-month-old ceasefire, although the government says it was only conducting normal police operations. Rebels retaliated by killing two civilians, a local politician and a policeman, and setting fire to a railway station and three buses over the last three days, officials said. The latest spurt in violence has spread panic among politicians and officials in the Maoist strongholds of Warangal, Mahboobnagar and Prakasham, officials said. "I am caught between the devil and the deep sea," said official G. Pashyappa in Warangal. "If I support the rebels the police pick me up. If I support the police the rebels threaten my family."