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| Monday, January 15, 2007 |
| ULFA threatens to kill Congress leaders in Assam |
The banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has threatened to kill the leaders of the ruling Congress party in Assam.
“If any Assamese youth is killed in the ongoing Army operations, ULFA’s 28th battalion would target and eliminate Congress leaders working at the grassroots and also State-level politicians,” ULFA’s commander Prabal Neog warned on Saturday.
The threat to kill Congress party leaders comes in the wake of a massive crackdown on the rebel outfit by the Army, paramilitary and police in Assam, following a bloody weekend that left over 60 labourers from Bihar and 10 others dead.
Neog stressed that “the Army operations against us will fail to yield any results,” even as the Army said that a 30-member rebel group involved in the massacre of Hindi-speaking migrants may have gone underground.
Authorities have asked Congress party workers and leaders to be on guard against possible attacks by the outlawed ULFA. Security has been tightened across the State with many Congress leaders now being provided police escort, an Assam police official said.
In recent days, hundreds of soldiers were airlifted to the jungles of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to crack down on the ULFA.
An Army commander explained: “The operation is meant to uproot ULFA bases, eliminate rebels or capture them. So far we have killed five ULFA men and captured at least six others.”
The Army official said the latest killings were carried out by a 30-member group of handpicked ULFA guerrillas from the outfit’s so-called 28th battalion.
The Army commander said that about 30 ULFA men, armed with assault rifles and other sophisticated weapons, carried out the massacres in eastern Assam after splitting into smaller groups.
The spree of violence spread over four days have left 73 people dead – 61 Hindi-speaking workers, five policemen and two government officials, besides five ULFA rebels shot dead in separate gun battles.
The ULFA also has bases in Arunachal Pradesh as well as training camps in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing Division.Labels: Society |
| posted by a correspondent @ 7:56 AM |
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