3 Indian troops killed in suspected separatist ambush

By Abdul Gani

GUWAHATI, India

Three soldiers were shot dead Saturday in an ambush by suspected separatist terrorists in Assam, northeast India, police said.

The attack at around 5.30 a.m. local time (0000GMT) in Tinsukia district, nearly 510 kilometers (317 miles) northeast of Guwahati, is thought to have been carried out by the United Liberation Front of Assam and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang).

“The incident took place… as a Maruti Gypsy and a truck of the 15 Kumaon Regiment was moving from Pengeri towards Digboi,” police Supt. Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta said, quoted by the Indian Express website.

“It is definitely the handiwork of the ULFA faction of Paresh Barua with support of the NSCN(K). There must have been at least 15 militants in the group that fired from inside the Upper Dehing reserved forest. They also used an IED, apart from firing with RPGs.”

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Suneet Newton told Anadolu Agency that another three soldiers were wounded.