Indian Army denies drone, missile attacks on outlawed ULFA-I at Indo-Myanmar border

The Indian Army on Sunday denied claims of involvement in drone and missile attacks on an insurgent organisation's camps along the Indo-Myanmar border.

This was in response to a press statement by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) that the attack on several camps situated in its Eastern headquarters in Myanmar had killed Nayan Asom (alias Nayan Medhi), the chairman of its lower council, and injured around 19 others.

The attacked camps reportedly included cadres belonging to the Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), the political wing of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur.

However, the Indian Army denied New Delhi's involvement in this operation, stating that it had “no inputs” about it, according to Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Rawat, as per a PTI article.

The separatist group claimed that approximately 150 drones used in the attack by “Indian occupational forces” were manufactured in Israel and France, with camps in the areas between Longwa in Nagaland and Pangsai Pass in Arunachal Pradesh peppered by drone attacks in the early hours of Sunday.

In a subsequent statement, ULFA-I claimed that missiles were launched at a camp where the last rites of Nayan Asom were being performed, as per self-styled Second Lieutenant Ishan Asom. He alleged that this second round offensive killed Brigadier Ganesh Asom and Colonel Pradip Asom— as well as several officers and cadre members—and injured civilians, as per a Hindustan Times report.

However, THE WEEK could not independently verify the claims made by the outlawed group.

Myanmar's ruling junta, the Tatmadaw, faces attacks by several militant organisations, as a part of which the Indo-Myanmar border is often used by these banned militant groups to establish camps.

The smuggling of arms to fuel these efforts has been a concern for India. As recently as May, the Assam Rifles gunned down 10 militants in an encounter at Manipur's Chandel district, located 130km away from the state capital.

Despite the Indian Army denying the outlawed group's claims of attacks, ULFA-I has vowed to respond to the onslaught on its camps.

Defence