Guwahati: Eight security personnel including seven Assam Rifles jawans and one jawan of Naga Territorial Army were killed and few others injured in an ambush carried out by NSCN-K rebels near Changlangshu in the far flung Mon district of Nagaland late Sunday afternoon.
A defence source claimed that at least one NSCN-K rebel was killed and another seriously injured in retaliatory fire by the Assam Rifles personnel.
A water collection team comprising about 20 personnel of Assam Rifles and Naga Territorial Army which was travelling in two vehicles including a Tata 407 mini-bus from Changlangshu to Tobu in Mon district when suspected NSCN-K insurgents first triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) under one the vehicles and opened simultaneous fired upon the security personnel killing eight of them on the spot. An unspecified number of security men were injured in the ambush.
The ambush on security personnel which has occurred after a long time in Nagaland since Government of India initiated peace efforts in late 1990s with NSCN factions – NSCN-IM, NSCN-K .
While the Government of India has been talking to NSCN-IM led by Isak Swu and Th Muivah, it was yet to start talks with the NSCN-K though it singed truce with the Government. The NSCN-K led by SS Khaplang, a Burmese-origin Naga recently pulled out of the truce pact with the Government.
Before that the NSCN-K was split last year because of sharp differences among its top rung leaders over issues related to the peace process with the Government of India. A breakaway faction was formed under the leadership of Kitovi Zimomi and Khole Konyak which favoured to continue with the peace process with the Government while the faction led by SS Khaplang went back to jungle once again breaking the truce with the Government.
