Indian army claims 'fair success' in anti-rebel crackdown

INDIA: India's army claimed some success in an ongoing crackdown against banned rebels blamed for a wave of ethnic attacks that killed 69 people in the northeastern state of Assam.

"The army is continuing with its operations and has achieved a fair amount of success," an Indian army spokesman told reporters in Guwahati, Assam's largest city.

He said a number of hideouts of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in Assam and in adjoining Arunachal Pradesh state had been raided during the five-day old crackdown. Officials say some 20,000 combat soldiers and paramilitary personnel were involved in the operation, the largest against the ULFA since 1991.

"Five ULFA guerrillas have been killed and 12 more caught in separate raids since the operations began Wednesday," another army officer told AFP separately on condition of anonymity.

General J.J. Singh, the chief of India's million-plus military, last week vowed to crush the ULFA, a rebel army which has been fighting for a homeland in Assam state for 21 years.

Troops have also set up camps in Arunachal Pradesh to cut off ULFA rebels retreating into forests along the India-Myanmar border.

Guwahati, Monday, AFP