An Assam Rifles personnel was injured when a patrol team was ambushed in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday morning. The United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I) claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to a Defence official, a vehicle-mounted patrol of three Assam Rifles vehicles was moving from Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh to Margherita in Assam’s Tinsukia district when it came under attack by “unknown personnel” near Namdhang, Assam, around 8:30 am.
According to the official, the troops retaliated and the ambush was foiled, but one personnel sustained gunshot wounds. The personnel was shifted to the Military Hospital in Jorhat.
In a statement hours later, ULFA-I called the incident part of its “revenge operation” for the encounter deaths of ULFA-I members Achinta Moran (alias Yangkhu Asom) and Uttam Lahon (Uday Asom) in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Tuesday’s attack came as several high-profile leaders have been visiting the state to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Guwahati Tuesday evening. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too was in the state.
Unlike ULFA’s pro-talks faction, which signed a tripartite peace pact with the Centre and the state government on December 29, 2023, the ULFA-I faction led by Paresh Baruah, operating from Myanmar, continues to resist talks without discussing sovereignty for Assam.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
