NSCN rebels kill 3 soldiers in Arunachal

Suspected rebels of the outlawed National Socialist Council Nagaland ( Khaplang) struck Thursday in a big way in Arunachal Pradesh, killing at least three Army soldiers while ending its 14- year old ceasefire with the Centre. Four others were critically hurt as a convoy of four Army vehicles was ambushed at Topi, near Khonsa. The convoy was moving from the Dinjan Army base in Assam to Longding in Arunachal Pradesh when the militants opened indiscriminate fire. Both Khaplang and Isak- Muivah factions of NSCN are active in Arunachal Pradesh districts near Myanmar.

In what was suspected, the outlawed National Socialist Council Nagaland ( Khaplang) rebels on Thursday struck in a big way in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh killing at least three Army soldiers while making a formal announcement of ending the 14year- old ceasefire with the Centre. Four others were critically wounded in the ambush that took place in one of the isolat- ed areas. Defence spokesperson Suneet Newton told this newspaper that the convoy of four vehicles was ambushed around Topi near Khonsa. The convoy was moving from the Army’s base at Dinjan in eastern Assam to Longding in Arunachal Pradesh. “The militants opened fire indiscriminately, killing three jawans on the spot and injuring three others. The injured were shifted to a base hospital,” he said.

Security sources suspected the involvement of Khaplang faction which was trying to make its presence felt in the frontier state where its selfstyle minister had recently refused to abide by the dictates of its chairman S. S. Khaplang asking to abrogate the ceasefire with the government. It is significant that two selfstyled ministers of the NSCN( K) —- one from Arunachal Pradesh and second from Nagaland — were expelled from the organisation for not obeying order of its chairman and agreeing for extension of the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, New Delhi has asked the security brass to identify the cadres of the NSCN- K. On Thursday, top home ministry sources said those responsible for Thursday’s killings will be severely dealt with and a message has gone to the security agencies to identify the culprits and hunt them down. Home ministry officials said once the process of identifying the cadres is complete, the operations against the NSCN- K anti- talk group will begin in the right earnest.