|
Myanmar crackdown on North-East insurgents |
 |
The Government of India is said to be pleased over reports that Myanmar’s forces have launched a massive crackdown on North-Eastern insurgents living in its territory. This is the second time in many years that a neighbour has acted against insurgents who are using their territory to launch attacks against India. Earlier this year Bhutan had wiped the insurgents out of their territory with the help of Indian security forces. The Myanmar crackdown comes just two weeks after the visit of its Head of State, Senior General Than Shwe to New Delhi when India conveyed to him its concern over the North-east insurgents using Myanmar territory for forays into the region.
While exact details on the number of camps and the damage are still being gathered, sources said six camps have apparently been destroyed in successive operations carried out during the second week of November. At least a couple of these are believed to be large camps used by more than one insurgent group including the ULFA and the NSCN(K). It is learnt that the operation was carried out in a coordinated manner with India providing information on the basis of which Myanmarese forces targeted these camps. This is in line with the “coordinated approach” agreed between Than Shwe and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the former came visiting on October 25.
India had moved additional troops from Dimapur in Nagaland to Chandel near Manipur on the Indo-Myanmar border three months ago. The extra brigade about 3,000 troops was brought in with the specific purpose of aiding Myanmar in cracking down on N-E insurgent camps.
|
