By IANS
Guwahati : Three paramilitary personnel and a civilian were killed and four others injured in an ambush by tribal separatists in Arunachal Pradesh.
A police spokesperson said that suspected militants of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) late Thursday attacked a three-vehicle convoy of the Assam Rifles near village Pangchau in Tirap district, about 600 km from Itanagar.
“A group of heavily armed NSCN-IM rebels fired indiscriminately with automatic weapons killing three Assam Rifles personnel and a civilian contractor accompanying the team,” a senior police official told IANS.
Four personnel, including an officer, were wounded in the attack.
“Two of the injured were stated to be critical,” the official said.
The Assam Rifles personnel were on their way to Pangchau on a routine patrol when they were ambushed.
The NSCN-IM is a dominant rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the Nagas in the adjoining state of Nagaland, but has bases in Arunachal Pradesh. The NSCN-IM is operating a ceasefire with New Delhi since 1997 and the two sides are currently holding peace talks.
“We are still not sure as to why the NSCN-IM launched the attack despite the truce,” an army commander said on condition of anonymity.