At least 500 Indian rebels have surrendered to Bhutanese forces during a massive crackdown on rebel camps in the Himalayan kingdom, a senior Indian intelligence official said on Friday. âFaced with Bhutanese troops on hot pursuit on one side and Indian soldiers lying in wait on the other side of the border, militants numbering up to 500 have surrendered before the Royal Bhutan Army,â the official told AFP in Guwahati, the Assamese state capital. âThose who have surrendered include... top rebel leaders and their families. Cornered from all sides they have been left with very few options other than surrendering or getting killed.â
| I think they shoulda gone with getting killed. Sammy's setting a bad example... |
Mithinga Daimary, spokesman for Indiaâs outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) separatist group, turned himself in and was one of top five rebel leaders handed over to Indian authorities on Thursday.
| "Hi, there, Mithinga! Welcome back to India!" |
Bhutan Monday launched its first-ever modern military operation to evict three Indian separatist groups that had set up illegal bases in the countryâs south. The Indian army said Thursday up to 120 rebels had been killed during the offensive, while six or seven Bhutanese soldiers had died and several others were slightly hurt. Bhutan has not given a casualty toll, but said all 30 rebel bases had been captured. âThe operations are still continuing and the flushing out process is on,â Sangay Dorji, Bhutanâs Foreign Ministry spokesman told AFP by telephone from the kingdomâs capital Thimphu. âWe have dislodged the militants from all 30 camps. They are now on the run.â
Two groups from Assam state — the ULFA and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), as well as the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation from West Bengal, had set up bases in southern Bhutan.
| "Yar! Get outta the way, Bhuts! We're settin' up shop on your territory!" |
The groups are fighting for homelands in India and have been carrying out guerrilla strikes on federal soldiers from Bhutan for several years. The offensive came after six years of failed talks with the rebels in Bhutan, a largely Buddhist kingdom of 700,000 people which has close ties with India.
| "Awright! That's it! You can't talk to these people! Chingwit! Call out the army!" |
More than 10,000 people have died during the insurgency in Assam since the 1980s. Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday reiterated an offer of peace talks to the militants. âThe need of the hour is to shun the path of violence and come forward for talks for peaceful solution of their problems,â he said.
| And that boy's just plain stoopid. |
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