The royal army of the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan has seized a camp near its border with India that they believe housed the headquarters of a major Indian separatist group, a top Bhutanese official said Tuesday. In its first-ever modern military operation, some 6,000 soldiers of Bhutan's royal army on Monday began a sweep through dense forests to push out Indian militants operating from its territory.
| "Boss? There's 6,000 guys from the Bhutan army here. They say they want us to get the hell out... Boss?" |
Indian security officials say three major militant groups -- the United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, and Kamtapur Liberation Organization — use Bhutan as a base from which they wage hit-and-run attacks into the northeastern Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. "By midday Monday, royal army soldiers had overpowered the central command headquarters of the ULFA," said Neten Zangmo, Bhutan's foreign secretary.
Zangmo told The Associated Press that the ULFA camp was located at Phukaptong in the Samdrup Jongkar district bordering Assam. Several rebels were arrested and at least seven Bhutanese soldiers were wounded in Monday's operation, Zangmo said in a telephone interview. She did not give details about rebel arrests, but the Indian army said it doesn't expect any top ULFA commander would be among the arrested rebels.
| Too important to The Movement™, y'see... |
Lt. Gen. Jitendra Singh Verma, the chief of Indian army's eastern command, told reporters in Calcutta said ULFA chairman Arvind Rajhkhawa and its chief commander Paresh Barua are believed to be hiding in Bangladesh. Hours after the Bhutanese operation began, a man identifying himself as Baruah telephoned local newspaper offices in Assam, saying a ULFA captain had been killed and a veteran ideologue injured as two of its camps came under heavy fire. The camps had been vacated, the man said, adding that at least five school children were injured by the Bhutanese army's mortar fire. Zangmo denied that children had been hit.
| He did admit that several puppies, kittens, and baby ducks had been wounded, though... |
The military operations came after six years of failed talks to persuade the rebels to leave the kingdom, the Bhutanese Embassy said.
| "We told you to get the hell out, but did you listen? NO! You didn't listen!" |
|