 At least 15 Myanmar soldiers and six Indian insurgents died and dozens were seriously wounded in heavy fighting to evict the rebels, a separatist leader said on Saturday. "So far we have killed 15 Myanmar soldiers and lost six of our cadres," rebel leader Kughalo Mulatonu said by telephone from a location near the India-Myanmar border where the offensive took place this week. "It is no longer mere fighting but a full-scale battle with the junta using mortars and heavy weapons on us," said Mulatonu, who heads the main faction of the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).
| "National Socialists! I hate those guys!" |
The group is fighting for an independent tribal homeland in India's northeastern state of Nagaland. It claims to have some 50 camps and 7,000 rebels in Myanmar's northern Sagaing Division, which borders Nagaland. |