Rebels launch retaliatory attacks in Meghalaya

Three people, including a SWAT commando, were injured in Meghalaya Wednesday when the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) launched retaliatory attacks a day after security forces destroyed their general headquarters.

The retaliatory attacks by the GNLA came a day after security forces overran their general headquarters in Durama hill range near Adugre village in East Garo Hills district.

The Garo rebels attacked a repeater station of the Meghalaya Police Radio Organisation (MPRO) at Chasinggre in the outskirts of Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills, a police spokesperson said.

"Two petrol pump workers and a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commando were injured. A repeater station of the MPRO was damaged in a retaliatory attack by the GNLA rebels," Meghalaya Police chief P.J.P. Hanaman told IANS.

In the first incident, the rebels opened fire at a petrol pump of the Indian Oil Corporation in Chasinggre, injuring two workers -- Nobo Hajong and Biswajit Shah -- before they hurled a grenade, damaging the petrol pump cash counter.

GNLA rebels later opened fire and lobbed a grenade at the MPRO repeater station near the petrol pump, damaging communication sets.

No MPRO official was injured in the attack, Hanaman said.

In the third incident, rebels ambushed a team of SWAT commandos at Pathargittim in South Garo Hills, injuring Commando Donboklang Jana.

Jana, who received bullet injuries in his stomach and thigh, was airlifted to state capital Shillong, Hanaman said.

The GNLA, fighting for a separate Garoland in Meghalaya, has forged an alliance with Bangladesh-based rebel group A'chik Special Dragon. It also has links with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

At least 46 people, including nine security personnel, have been killed since January in the Garo Hills region.