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| Friday, 23 January 2004 |
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Three killed in India's northeast GUWAHATI, India, Thursday (AFP) Three paramilitary soldiers were killed and seven more critically wounded Wednesday in a powerful explosion triggered by separatists in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, police said. Militants belonging to the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) ambushed a security patrol with explosives in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, a police spokesman said. "The rebels attacked a security patrol with improvised explosive devices killing three and seriously injuring seven personnel," a senior police official told AFP by telephone from the state capital Shillong. "A group of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and security personnel of the Special Operations Unit of Assam were jointly combing the area to look for militants when the attack took place." The official said the militants also fired at the security patrol after the blast. "The attack is seen as an attempt to create panic ahead of India's annual Republic Day on Monday," the official said. India celebrates January 26 as the anniversary of it becoming a republic in 1950. At least nine separatist groups in India's northeast called Wednesday for a 17-hour general strike to boycott Republic Day, which is often preceded by violence in the area, where several separatist groups are fighting seccessionist battles. Militants in the northeast have long boycotted India's Independence and Republic Day celebrations to protest against New Delhi's alleged "colonial and repressive" rule over the vast region rich in oil, tea and timber. On Tuesday militants in the same area killed a Meghalaya policeman and injured three more in a similar blast. |
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