Army busts ULFA camp in Arunachal

The Indian Army on Thursday claimed to have busted a camp of the 28th battalion of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom at Lalpahar in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.

In a major blow to the ULFA, troops destroyed the camp headquarters of the A and C companies of the ULFA's 28th battalion at Lalpahar in Arunachal Pradesh and demolished four bunkers.

The army has been keeping constant vigil in Arunachal Pradesh, especially in the areas bordering eastern Assam, to check movements of ULFA militants who take shelter across the inter-state boundary.

The ULFA also uses Arunachal Pradesh as a corridor to move to and from their camps in neighbouring Myanmar. The army operating under the unified command structure in Assam is allowed to operate upto 20 km inside Arunachal Pradesh.

Security sources said that taking advantage of the absence of a sustained counter-insurgency operation in Arunachal Pradesh whose pristine landscape is characterised by a sparse population, dense forests and hilly terrain, militants from ULFA and Naga rebel groups have set up bases especially in Tirap, Changlang and Lohit districts bordering Assam and Nagaland.

These militant infested districts of Arunachal Pradesh share a border with Myanmar where the various militant groups from the north eastern states are suspected to have set up training camps.