NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Syed Zarir Hussain in Guwahati
National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak/Muivah militants ambushed and killed four civilians and critically wounded three in Arunachal Pradesh, officials on Saturday said.
A police spokesman said heavily armed militants on Friday evening attacked a private vehicle near Nambhai village in Changlang district, 800 km east of Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar.
Nambhai is located on the edge of the border with Myanmar.
"NSCN militants stopped the vehicle and fired indiscriminately with automatic weapons killing four passengers, including three women, and injuring three," a police official said on telephone from Changlang.
The NSCN militants, numbering about eight, later escaped to a nearby jungle.
The police said the reason for the attacks was not immediately known, but they suspect that the rebels wanted to loot money from the passengers and might have opened fire on being challenged.
The NSCN-IM, fighting for an independent tribal homeland in adjoining Nagaland state, is currently operating a ceasefire with the federal government with the rebel leadership holding peace talks with New Delhi aimed at ending 54 years of violent insurgency in the region.
Arunachal Pradesh, which has remained largely untouched by separatist insurgency, has become a haven for rebels of the outlawed NSCN and the United Liberation Front of Asom, both using the state as a sanctuary.
The Arunachal Pradesh government has urged New Delhi for action to thwart a new tribal militant outfit that has been gaining ground in the state.
Arunachal Pradesh police chief Deep Chand said the East India Liberation Front had started wielding influence in the eastern Lohit district, 500 km from Itanagar.
"We have a very small police force and hence it is important for the federal government to reinforce us with additional army and paramilitary troopers to counter the threat posed by the new rebel group," he said.
The state has just about 3,600 paramilitary personnel. The EILF, formerly known as the Arunachal Dragon Force, is led by Chow Nomi and wants an independent homeland for the Khamti tribe.
Indo-Asian News Service
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
