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Suspected militants blow up 3 gas pipelines in NE India
Security has been tightened across India’s northeast, where a collection of insurgent groups, many based among minority ethnic groups, have been fighting Indian security forces for years. The violence often spikes in the days ahead of Republic Day, Thursday’s anniversary of the 1950 signing of India’s constitution. United Liberation Front of Asom, which has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, is among three rebel groups in northeastern India that have ordered a Republic Day boycott. The first killing Sunday occurred when militants lobbed a hand grenade at a security checkpoint in the state capital of Gauhati, killing a civilian passer-by and injuring three security officers, state Inspector General of Police Dilip Bora said. In a separate incident, a state police officer was killed when he was ambushed by militants near the town of Borpathar, 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Gauhati. Two other grenade attacks occurred Sunday near one of Gauhati’s police stations, injuring two police officers and three civilians, Bora said. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, but officials suspected that ULFA militants were responsible, Bora said. All of the pipelines attacked were in the state’s eastern region, Assam Gas managing director B.C. Sharma said. One of them supplied fuel to a regional electricity plant, but it was not immediately clear whether any areas had lost power as a result of the attacks. Posted by: Steve White 2006-01-23 |
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