Gunfight ensues between army, militants in Nagaland

A gunfight broke between the Indian Army para commandos and militants in Nagaland's Mon district bordering Myanmar in the early hours of Wednesday, a police official here said.

The exchange of fire took place in Choknyu village near Tapi bridge, when suspected National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I) militants fired at the para commandos.

"The gunfight lasted for an hour and suspected NSCN-K and ULFA-I militants retreated back to the jungles after intensive firing from the para commandos," a Nagaland police official told IANS.

Intelligence officials said that the militants had sneaked into Nagaland from Myanmar to create terror.

The army and para-military Assam Rifles are continuing with the operation to track down the fleeing militants.

A couple of weeks back, an army Major, three ULFA-I militants and a civilian were killed in a gunfight between security forces and combined NSCN-K and ULFA-I militants in the district.

The NSCN-K, which abrogated the ceasefire agreement with the Indian government in April 2015, has been active in Mon and three districts of Arunachal Pradesh -- Longding, Tirap and Changlang -- after floating a new platform called the United Liberation Front of Western South-East Asia (ULFWSA).

The combined group of north-east militants has carried out a series of attacks on security forces in the past couple of years, the worst being the death of 18 jawans in Chandel district in Manipur in June 2015.

This is a first major strike by the NSCN militants belonging to the Khaplang faction since Shangnyu Shangwang Khaplang's death on June 9 in Myanmar, where they have bases.

--IANS

rrk/ahm/vt