Indian insurgents fleeing to Myanmar

INDIA: Insurgents blamed for the killings of dozens of poor migrant workers in India's remote northeast have fled into neighbouring Myanmar with thousands of troops searching for them, an official said Monday.

Some 20,000 police, army, and paramilitary soldiers have been scouring dense jungles for nearly a week searching for United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, rebel bases in Assam state.

Authorities blamed ULFA for Jan. 5-8 shootings that killed 61 Hindi-speaking migrants. ULFA has not claimed responsibility for any attacks.

"The rebels have generally gone into hiding, while many of them are believed to have crossed over to Myanmar," Assam state's top elected official Tarun Gogoi told reporters.

India and Myanmar share a 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) border and militants from both sides are known to keep camps across the frontier, from where they make cross-border raids.

Four ULFA militants have been killed by government soldiers in the past week following the launch of the major operation, the official said.

"We have given the ULFA ample scope to halt violence and enter peace negotiations. But the rebels did not show a positive attitude and continued with their violence," Gogoi said.

Meanwhile Indian security forces have captured several key separatist guerrillas in a major counter-insurgency operation in the restive northeastern state of Assam, an official said Monday.

"We have made some very good catches in the ongoing military crackdown although we cannot divulge details of the operations at this stage," Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi told AFP.

"The operation is in full swing and we have had some significant results."

Some 20,000 combat soldiers and paramilitary personnel are currently engaged in the offensive against the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

The rebels' capture follows a warning from the Indian army that operations against them would intensify.

India's largest paramilitary agency meanwhile has accused neighbouring Bangladesh of sheltering top ULFA commanders.

Assam army commander Major General N.C. Marwah told the NDTV television network there would be no let-up in the bid to force the ULFA to negotiate.

"We are going for very precise and very intensive operations against the ULFA," Marwah said in Guwahati, Assam's largest city.

"There will be helicopters, heli-borne assaults, you name it and we will use it as we are going all out about it," he said.

Guahati, Tuesday, AP, AFP