Indian Army strikes back

The special forces of the Indian Army on Tuesday carried out a surgical strike inside Myanmar, <g data-gr-id="20">slaying</g> approximately 15 insurgents of the groups believed to be behind last week’s deadly ambush in Manipur, where 18 soldiers were killed. Reports suggest that the strike was carried out on specific intelligence in coordination with Burmese authorities.  

While addressing the press, a senior officer of the Indian Army said that in the course of the last few days, “credible intelligence” was received about further attacks that were being planned on the Indian side of the border. News reports suggest that it is the first time an Indian Army contingent has carried out a cross-border commando action to snuff out insurgents. Such a move, according to observers on the ground, marks a definite rise in the proactive approach our military has taken to deal with insurgent groups. 

After the ghastly attack on an army convoy in Manipur last week, militants from the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) had fired at an Assam Rifles camp in a remote district of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday. The attack in Arunachal Pradesh was the second suspected attack by insurgents from the NSCN (K). Observers on the ground in Manipur had also suggested that the ambush in Manipur was also carried out by the newly formed United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia, comprising a number of insurgent groups from the North-East, under SS Khaplang, the head of the NSCN (K). It was noticed that insurgents would sneak in from across the border to carry out their strikes and then return to the jungles of Myanmar. At least this is the justification the armed forces have given for their latest foray into a foreign country.

It has been 57 years since the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act was put in place to help the armed forces quell the violent ethnic insurgencies taking root in the State. Despite the massive military presence, areas under the Manipur state and the larger North-Eastern region continue to wallow in an endless orgy of violence. Over the past two decades, states like Manipur have seen several insurgent groups, which have taken to extortion rackets as a means of funding their nefarious activities, with members of the political class encouraging the same. After Tuesday’s incisive strike in Myanmar, insurgent groups may now think twice before committing such acts against our armed forces. However, one does hope that the Army does not unleash its wrath on local Manipuris, in a bid to snuff out remnants of such insurgent groups.