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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Gunmen Kill 25 Indian Separatists in Bangladesh Hotel |
| 2004-07-18 |
| At least 25 Indian separatists were killed in an attack by gunmen at a hotel in Dhaka, capital of neighboring Bangladesh, police in India said. Dhaka's Police Commissioner Ashraful Huda said, however, he had no report of the incident. "A group of Indian insurgents were apparently holding a meeting at a hotel in Dhaka's Segun Bagicha area when gunmen attacked and killed up to 25 of them," said G.M. Srivastava, police chief of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura. Tripura shares a 530-mile porous border with Bangladesh. Indian security forces say several separatist rebel groups in the country's northeast have bases inside Bangladesh, from which they stage hit-and-run attacks on Indian targets. Bangladesh has denied such claims. Srivastava claimed most of those killed were members of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, which has been fighting for an independent homeland for the indigenous population of Assam, the largest of India's seven northeastern states. Rebels from four other Indian insurgent groups were present at the meeting in Dhaka, the police chief said. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |