Three Assam Rifles personnel were killed and five injured near the India-Myanmar border at the Chandel area in Manipur on the night of Wednesday, 29 July, in an ambush by suspected terrorists of the insurgent group People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
A senior government officer told news agency IANS that a group of 15 soldiers was returning from an area dominance patrol at Khongtal in Chandel when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded. Thereafter, they came under heavy fire from the terrorists.
“On 29 July, 2020, an area domination patrol in Khongtal, Chandel dist, Manipur. At 18:45 hrs the patrol party got ambushed on their way back,” said a senior government officer.
While the government has stated that no insurgent group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, news agency ANI quoted sources to say the attackers were affiliated with the PLA.
The incident happened about three kilometers from the India-Myanmar border. They were returning to their post after three days of operation along the international border.
The deceased have been identified as Havildar Pranay Kalita, Rifleman YM Konyak, and Rifleman Ratan Salim. The five jawans who sustained “minor injuries” have been shifted to the military hospital.
“The local administration and intelligence agencies are working to identify the insurgent group which carried out the attack on the patrolling party,” a senior government officer told IANS.
According to NDTV, the PLA – one of the Manipur-based insurgent groups – was founded in the late 1970s and has been fighting for secession from India.
Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry, comprises Indian Army soldiers and officers and their own cadre officials and officers.
On 23 June, a report published by the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) stated that Indian insurgents from the country's north eastern states, who have been sheltered for years in Myanmar, present security challenges for India, IANS reported.
“In addition to being threats to national security, they are also irritants that impact India's Act East Policy. The Indian suspicion, not without basis, is that impeding the progress of India's Act East projects has assumed weight in China's strategic thinking. The influx of Chinese weapons is, accordingly, in tune with such thinking," the EFSAS said.
In 2015, in an attack by Naga group NSCN (K), a total 18 Indian Army soldiers were killed in Chandel district of Manipur. As retaliation, the force had carried out strikes on Myanmar hideouts of the group.
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