ITANAGAR: Assam Rifles jawan was killed while another was hurt in an ambush by suspected militants in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday, officials said.
Police officials in Itanagar said that armed militants attacked the 19 Battalion of Assam Rifles troopers near Hetlong village when the paramilitary personnel were on their way to collect drinking water by a water tanker.
Police suspect that around 30 terrorists belonging to the Paresh Baruah faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA-Independent) and the Yung Aung faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) are behind in the ambush.
“A report said that the militants had triggered an IED blast prior to opening indiscriminate firing. However, we are yet to get the full details of the incident,” a police official said refusing to disclose his identity.
The injured jawan was admitted to a government hospital in Changlang. He is likely to be airlifted to Guwahati in Assam. Three districts of Arunachal Pradesh – Tirap, Longding and Changlang share porous and unfenced borders with Myanmar and for many years the Armed Forces Special Powers Act had been enforced in these areas.
Various militant outfits are using these forested areas as their transit route and clandestine hideouts. It was not immediately known how many Assam Rifles troopers were travelling by the water tanker and whether they retaliated to the militant attack.