Kohima,
June 19 : Plans are afoot to partially seal the India-Myanmar border in
Nagaland to choke food supply of Northeast militants having bases in
Myanmar, an Assam Rifles officer said today.
Inspector-general of Assam Rifles (North), Maj. Gen. M.S. Jaswal, who
is also the general-officer-commanding, Nagaland, also said 30
China-made improvised explosive bombs (IED) have reportedly been
smuggled into Nagaland by militants to attack security forces."We know an IED was triggered at Changlangshu village on May 3 by an Ulfa cadre," he said. Sources said at least three IED bombs were smuggled into Kohima recently.
Gen. Jaswal said given that China-made IEDs and weapons were used by Northeast insurgents to attack security forces recently in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, China's hand in aiding and abetting Northeast insurgents operating from Myanmar cannot be ruled out.
He, however, added that China-made arms were easily available in Southeast Asian countries.
Security forces suspect China has been supporting Naga insurgent groups, including NSCN (Khaplang), for several decades and China-made guns are popular among the Naga militants.
Gen. Jaswal said a foreign kilonser (minister) of the NSCN (K), who recently defected to another faction, was posted in China. He said this establishes China's support to Naga insurgents.
He said nearly 300 NSCN (K) cadres and 30-40 Ulfa cadres were currently operating in Nagaland. The Ulfa cadres mostly operate in Mon district, bordering Myanmar. NSCN (K) commander Niki Sumi, who supervises the group's military activities in Nagaland, is based at Layshi town in Myanmar along its border with India, he added.
Gen. Jaswal said efforts were being made to partially seal the border. He sought cooperation from all quarters, including the state government, on this. At present, there is night curfew on the Indian side of the border but it covers only a 1km stretch.
He said since intensive patrolling by security forces along the border would hamper the free movement of people of both the countries, the task had been entrusted to civil administration and the police. The GOC said the Centre was trying to regulate the movement of people across the border through designated routes. Once this is done, supply of rations to families living just across the border, who pick up their supplies from markets inside India, could also be regulated to choke supply of food to insurgents based in Myanmar.
He said while they would take care that economic sustenance of people living across the border is not restricted, they would not allow routing of excess ration to Myanmar in order to cut off supply to militants. Only families living along the border in Myanmar would be allowed to pick up their requirement of ration from the Indian side.
He said NSCN (K) rebels based in Myanmar receive rations from adjacent Mon district in Nagaland and security forces were trying to seal all such routes. They have been able to foil rebels' attempts to get rations recently, he added.
Gen. Jaswal said it was a tough job manning the porous border as there were only seven outposts in the state, which he said was most inadequate.
On sharing of intelligence to track militants, Jaswal said 90 per cent of the operation in Jammu and Kashmir was carried out through police inputs. He refused to comment on the role of the state police in intelligence sharing with Assam Rifles and the army.
Gen. Jaswal said militancy and terrorism could be nipped in the bud only when people were determined to do so. "Society should come forward to eliminate terrorism. The army alone cannot do the job."
He said permanent peace was possible only through the collective efforts of all sections of people. The security forces alone cannot herald peace, he added.