Insurgency / Northeast

NEW DELHI, June 17 ? India has raised the issue of militants of the North-East including the outlawed ULFA enjoying a free run of the country with the visiting Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, M Morshed Khan, only to be assured again that the country would not allow forces inimical to India to misuse its soil. The issue figured during a luncheon meeting between Morshed Khan and the Indian External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh here this afternoon that was also attended by officials of both the countries including Foreign Secretary, Chokila Iyer and High Commissioner of Bangladesh. The...

SHILLONG, June 12 ? Five years since the 100 per cent Centrally funded special scheme for modernisation of police forces in the North-eastern states was launched, the Union Home Ministry has made the admission that the condition of the police forces in the North East is ?quite poor?. It is an accepted fact that most of the militant outfits are better armed and equipped than the State police forces. The financial bankruptcy of the State governments in the region also hampered providing of modern arms and equipments to the police. The dismal situation led the Centre to formulate the special...

VAIRENGTE (Mizoram), June 3 ? Ensconced in the thick jungles, the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare (CIJW) School here is where Army personnel of the country and elite forces from other countries have been trained to combat terrorism, reports PTI. Brigadier Amrit Kapur, commandant of the CIJWs told PTI that the premier institution has gained more relevance in the wake of growing global menace of terrorism. ??The CIJW school functions as the Army?s nodal instruction facility for training the Indian Army in low intensity operations,?? Kapur said, adding the institution also trained personnel...

NEW DELHI, May 30 ? Claiming that insurgency in the North-East was at low ebb; the Defence Ministry has asserted that sustained operations have led to near marginalisation of ULFA and NDFB in Assam, even as Army killed over 520 insurgents in the region. Relentless operations by the security forces against other insurgent groups in the region, have marginalized them and forced them to shift their bases to the neighbouring countries, the Defence Ministry observed.

Sustained and successful military operations by the security forces under the unified command has resulted in near marginalisation...

GUWAHATI, May 29 ? Foreign connections of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) are now well known facts but on the basis of interrogation reports of the militants who were arrested or surrendered in recent years, security forces have pinpointed more than 40 routes commonly used by the cadres of the outfit to visit their foreign bases. Majority of the routes identified lead to the camps of the ULFA in the neighbouring country Bhutan, but several routes used by the militants to visit their bases in Bangladesh and Myanmar have also been identified on the basis of interrogation reports...

Imphal, May 14: The Home Ministry has given the green signal for the establishment of 20 new IRBs in the NE region. According to an official statement, two will be in Arunachal Pradesh, two in Mizoram, five in Assam, three in Manipur, two in Meghalaya, two in Nagaland and four in Tripura. It mentioned that under the scheme, the State Government may claim for grant-in-aid instead of loans as advance for procuring the land and constructing the complex. The expenditure made for establishing the battalion will be reimbursed by the Centre under the Security Related Expenditure scheme. Meanwhile...

MOREH (Manipur), May 10 ? Indo-Myanmar border trade in this border town in Chandel district was severely affected due to non-plying of vehicles between Imphal and this border town following demand for ?heavy tax? from vehicle owners by underground NSCN(I-M), reports PTI. Sources in the police and Vehicle Owner?s Association said they would not ply vehicles unless adequate security arrangements were made by the State authorities. The NSCN(I-M) had served notices to all owners of vehicles plying along Imphal-Moreh National Highway No. 39 that unless tax was paid by them, they would not be...

Imphal, May 10 (PTI): The Gauhati High Court today restrained the Centre from shifting the Special Services Bureau from the North East as proposed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice RS Mongia and Justice IA Ansari, in an order passed on a public interest litigation fixed the case for further hearing on July 16. The petitioner, Jugal Barua, a social activist of Tezpur, has challenged the move of the Union Home Ministry to shift the SSB units along with personnel based in each State of the North East to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The...

Imphal, May 09: Indo-Myanmar border trade has been severely affected following the indefinite transport strike called by the Imphal-Moreh Road Transporters' Joint Action Committee on the Imphal-Moreh Road from today protesting the imposition of hefty vehicle "taxes" by UGs. Goods and items worth several crores of rupees are transacted daily at Moreh and its adjoining Myanmar town, Namphallong. Plying of both passenger and goods vehicles came to a screeching halt on the Imphal-Moreh road as a result of the strike. Trucks and auto-rickshaws have not been allowed to ply. The JAC has made stern...

AIZAWL, May 7 ? Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga is scheduled to leave for Bangkok today to hold talks with the NSCN (I-M) leadership, Chief Minister?s secretariat sources said here, report PTI. This would be Zoramthanga?s second meeting with NSCN (I-M) leaders in the Thai capital. A former rebel leader himself, Zoramthanga was earlier approached by both the Centre and the NSCN to broker peace deal to solve the Naga problems. He was said to be instrumental in breaking a stalemate when both the sides disagreed on extension of ceasefire outside Nagaland. He, however, said that he would not be...