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Militants defy ‘night-curfew’ kills AR trooper in Chandel ambush

IMPHAL, November 17: Atleast one personnel of the Assam Rifles was killed and two others grievously injured in a militant ambush in Old Samtal area of Chandel district.

The ambush comes just five months after the deadly June 4 Paraolon ambush which left 18 Assam Rifles personnel dead and several injured.

Defying the ‘night curfew’ imposed by the Army and Assam Rifles since mid October along the highly porous Myanmar border to check militant activities, a patrolling party of the 3 Assam Rifles was ambushed today in the interior area of Chandel district near old Somtal by heavily armed insurgents.

Sources said the attack occurred at around 3 pm and continued till late night, leaving one Assam Rifles personnel dead and two others grievously injured.

There may be more injuries, but reports on the number of injured remain sketchy at the time of filing this report.

It is learnt that the Assam Rifles troopers were conducting a detailed patrolling in the area between border pillar number 59 and 60 at around 3 pm today.

The patrol party numbering around 40 personnel were moving amidst the thick jungle terrain, when all of a sudden, automatic gunfire broke out aimed at the front of the patrolling party.

The 3 AR party was heavily ambushed by well armed militants using sophisticated weapons including grenade launchers, according to the source.

As the Assam Rifles personnel also took cover, there was heavy exchange of gunfire between the two sides which continued for hours.

As the said area is located more than 8 hours from the Assam Rifles headquarters, moving in swift additional reinforcements to the attack spot was logistically un-feasible, according to a source.

It is learnt that the two injured Assam Rifles personnel are being brought back along the jungle track which is not motorable.

It is also learnt that the attackers later retreated into the jungle and crossed the Myanmar border afterwards.

At the moment, there is no claim from any particular insurgent group but the area of operation is mainly dominated by some valley based underground organizations and NSCN (Khaplang).

The Paraolon ambush was carried out by a joint team of the NSCN (K), KYKL ad KCP which are members of the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW).

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