Insurgency / Northeast

IMPHAL, Dec 21?The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isasc Muivah) extending moral support to ULFA and other revolutionary organisations which have come under heavy attack from the Bhutanese army in Bhutan for the past few days, has imposed a 24 hour bandh in all Naga areas in the North east.

The bandh began at of 6 am on Sunday 21 and will conclude at 6 am the following day, according to sources here. The outfit which is currently continuing peace talk with the Government of India since August 1997 also stated that they fully endorse the 48 hour bandh called by ULFA, NDFB and KLO.

Mea...

NEW DELHI, Dec 21 ?In a worrying development, camps operated by North East insurgents in Bangladesh have increased by about 25 over the past month touching the figure of 180 with Indian security agencies claiming to have ?concrete evidence? about al Qaeda presence in that country. The new camps in Bangladesh have been detected even as an operation is underway in Bhutan to flush-out Indian insurgents from that country. Dhaka has consistently denied presence of al Qaeda elements or NE insurgents in that country, reports PTI.

Dhaka has consistently denied presence of Al Qaeda elements or NE...

GUWAHATI, Dec 21 ? The Bhutanese Government is attaching priority to the safety of the unarmed women and children living in the Indian militants? camps in Bhutan. The Royal Government of the Himalayan kingdom is taking all the care to provide food and shelter to these inmates of the militant camps, said Director of Bhutanese Foreign Ministry Yeshey Dorji yesterday. He was talking to this correspondent at the regional Revenue and Customs Directorate of the kingdom?s Samdrup Jongkhar district yesterday.

When the Bhutanese official was talking to this correspondent at Samdrup Jongkhar, the...

GUWAHATI, Dec 21 ? The 48-hour Assam, Bodoland and Kamatapur bandh, the call for which was given jointly by ULFA, NDFB and KLO in protest against the Bhutan Government offensive against them, continued to evoke mixed response for the second day today. No untoward bandh related incident was reported from any part of Assam till the time of filing of this report. In Guwahati, the bandh continued to evoke mixed response as private vehicles continued to ply on the roads, while a few auto rickshaws also plied on the city roads. However, only a few city buses plied on the roads. The train and air...

GUWAHATI, Dec 21 ? The Royal Bhutan Army, in the operation against the militants, recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, which speaks volumes of the arms and ammunition available with the militant groups. Highly placed security sources revealed that as per the list of weapons recovered from the militant camps, which was handed over to the Government of India by the Bhutan Government, more than 700 weapons have so far been recovered from the militant camps. Sources said that the list submitted included 500 AK-47 rifles, about a hundred pistols and other sophisticated weapons like anti...

New Delhi, Dec. 20: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) today broke its silence over the Royal Bhutan Army?s operations against militants of the Northeast. Terming the exercise as brutal and cruel, the NSCN (I-M) said the military drive has shocked the people of the region.

?According to reliable sources, almost every arrested person was shot dead, arrested women were raped and even killed mercilessly. Human rights are being grossly violated,? said Thuingaleng Muivah, the outfit?s general secretary, in an email from Oking.

He said it was really sad that a situation has been...

TURA, Dec 20?In view of the Bhutan offensive against the ULFA, NDFB and KLO militants, and the likely attempt by the fleeing militants to enter West Garo Hills before crossing into Bangladesh, the entire border of Garo Hills with Assam has been sealed. Night curfew has been imposed in the bordering areas of Tikrikilla extending upto Goalpara in Assam, and the military-infested areas of Bajendoba and Pedaldoba in East Garo Hills. Two companies of the army are already inside the Garo Hills assisting three companies of the CRPF and the Garo Hills Police in sealing the Assam Garo Hills border. An...

GUWAHATI, Dec 20 ? Faced with continued onslaught by the Bhutanese army, Nine North-East based insurgent outfits, including the ULFA, have decided to serve quit notice to Bhutanese nationals who had either settled in the north east region or had come here for business purposes, reports PTI. A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting ULFA ?commander-in-chief? Paresh Baruah had with nine other N-E based insurgent groups in Dhaka, reports reaching here said today. They also discussed the situation arising out of the ongoing military operations against them in Bhutan.

SAMDRUP JONGKHAR, Dec 20? Following the crackdown by the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) on the insurgent camps in Bhutan, the business between the people of bordering villages in Nalbari district and Bhutan?s Samdrup Jongkhar district has been adversely affected as the daily and weekly markets of the areas have been closed since December 15 last.

Sources said here that the large Sunday weekly market of Bhutan?s Samdrup Jongkhar where the Bhutanese farmers sell their products like orange, potato etc., to Indian people has been cancelled due to the situation. ?As the Bhutan Royal Government sealed...

SAMDRUP JONGKHAR (BHUTAN), Dec 20 ? The drive against the NE Indian militants in Bhutan is purely a Bhutanese operation and there should not be any doubt of the involvement of the Indian Government in it. No doubt, the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGB) and the Government of India (GOI) are working in close consultation in matters of flushing out the militants, said Director, Foreign Ministry, RGB Yeshey Dorji here this noon while talking to The Assam Tribune.

The RGB was compelled by the rigid stand of the Indian militant outfits to leave the Bhutanese soil despite the attempts of the RGB for...