Anti-ULFA Operations: Army Takes Up Position Along Arunachal, Myanmar Border

2007-01-11 The Army on Thursday took up positions within dense forests in Arunachal Pradesh and along the border with Myanmar on the second day of its offensive to flush out ULFA militants amidst indications

Troops had fanned out into the forests of Arunachal Pradesh and areas near the frontier with Myanmar where the ULFA is suspected to have camps, said Maj Gen N C Marwah, commander of the army`s 2 mountain division and in-charge of operations in violence-ravaged upper Assam.

The 3,000 army and paramilitary personnel deployed for the operations had achieved "a fair amount of success" and were in hot pursuit of the ULFA. Helicopters had been kept ready to ferry soldiers to remote areas, he said.

Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said in Bhubaneswar that the operation against the militants "will continue indefinitely until they are flushed out".

"No timeframe has been fixed for this," he told reporters. If required, the Indian Air Force`s help will be taken to deal with the rebels, he said.

Army Chief Gen J J Singh told a private news channel that the ULFA was "able to regroup and consolidated" itself during a six-week truce last year. He said the army would put "so much pressure on them (ULFA) that they come to the negotiating table for unconditional talks".

The Centre has convened a meeting of army, paramilitary and Assam officials in Delhi tomorrow to discuss ways to intensify operations against the ULFA. A representative of the sports ministry and the Indian Olympic Association`s secretary general will also be present in view of the national games to be held in Guwahati next month.

CRPF units in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar districts have been asked to increase "area domination" during the night and to synergise operations with other security forces engaged in the counter-insurgency operations, officials said.

Col Jaspal Singh, Commander of 11 guards and heading operations in Dibrugarh, said troops were on alert in ULFA- dominated areas of Chabua, including Tengakhat, Tilloi and Jeraigaon, the home of ULFA chief Paresh Baruah.

The Centre has asked paramilitary forces and the army to take extra precautions in areas having sizeable minority and Hindi-speaking populations and steps have also been taken to prevent a backlash against the Assamese.

Army sources said troops in Arunchal Pradesh would demolish ULFA camps and seal off escape routes to Myanmar.

Patrolling in rivers along the border with Bangladesh has been intensified to prevent ULFA cadres from sneaking in and out of the neighbouring country where the banned group has major bases, they said.

Meanwhile, the situation gradually limped back to normal in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, where ULFA carried out a string of attacks against Hindi-speaking migrants. There were no reports of fresh violence in these areas, officials said.

The indefinite curfew in worst-hit Tinsukia district was relaxed between eight am and five pm.

In Dibrugarh, 3,155 Hindi-speaking people had taken shelter in relief camps, but 200 of them from Tengakhat returned home as the situation returned to normal, officials said.

Centre convenes high-level meeting tomorrow on Assam scenario

Amid intelligence reports of ULFA recruiting new cadres during the ceasefire, the Centre has convened a high-level meeting of army, para-military and state officials tomorrow to intensify offensive against the insurgent outfit.

In the wake of killings of nearly 70 people during the fresh ULFA offensive last weekend, series of meetings have been held in the ministry of home affairs during which various intelligence inputs were discussed.

The intelligence inputs revealed that the ULFA had recruited new cadres during the six-week truce last year and trained them to use rockets and explosives against security forces and government establishments.

The reports said ULFA heads like Paresh Baruah and Arabinda Rajkhowa had been instructed by Pakistan`s ISI to carry out more and more attacks in Assam.

Both the ULFA insurgents, who have been living a lavish life in one of the posh localities of Bangladesh, had been pumping money through Porus Borders into the Northeastern state for carrying out more and more attacks.

The new recruits of ULFA had been tasked with using improvised explosive devices in cycles and motorcycles in busy market places to carry out the attacks on innocent civilians, the sources said.

The so-called 28th batallion of ULFA had also been tasked with carrying out more attacks before the National Games scheduled to begin from February eight next month, the sources said.

Operations against ULFA to continue: Pallam Raju

Around 3000 army and paramilitary personnel, backed by helicopters, mounted a major offensive against ULFA in Assam and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh even as the centre said the operations against the rebels will continue indefinitely.

Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said in Bhubaneswar that the action against the militants "will continue indefinitely until they are flushed out".

"No timeframe has been fixed for this," he told reporters.

If required, the assistance of the Indian Air Force will be taken to deal with the insurgents, he said.

With the arrival of additional forces that included 1000 CRPF men, army sources here said concentrated operations were being conducted in the violence-ravaged districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sibsagar of Upper Assam where the rebels were reported to have set up bases in the forests.

The security forces had also fanned out to bordering jungles in Arunchal Pradesh to demolish ULFA camps and seal of their escape route to Myanmar, the sources said.

Riverine patrolling was intensified along the international borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar to prevent ULFA cadres from slipping out.

The army`s 2nd Mountain Division G-O-C Maj Gen N C Marwah told reporters at Dibrugarh that "the results will be evident soon".

He said since yesterday universal light machine guns used by the ultras along with RDX, TNT and several Gelatin sticks had been seized.

Meanwhile, the Centre will hold a high-level meeting at New Delhi tomorrow to review Assam`s security scene.