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| India-Pakistan |
| Separatist group may shift bases from Bhutan to Bangladesh |
| 2003-04-16 |
| IRNA -- An Indian separatist group could be pulling out of bases inside Bhutan and shifting to new locations along the border with Bangladesh, officials Wednesday said. The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), fighting for an independent homeland in the northeastern state of Assam, has been operating out of well-entrenched bases inside Bhutan. "It appears the ULFA have been relocating their bases from Bhutan to areas in the northeastern state of Meghalaya bordering Bangladesh," a senior Indian Border Security Force (BSF) official told IRNA. The reports of ULFA moving out of Bhutan has gained credence after security forces last week made two large hauls of arms and explosives in the West Garo Hill district of Meghalaya, a few kilometers from Surely just a coincidence... "The arms consignments has reached Meghalaya by a non-conventional river route and heightens our suspicion that the ULFA has begun shifting their armory," the BSF official said requesting anonymity. Intelligence officials say the ULFA was under pressure from Bhutanese authorities to vacate their camps inside the Himalayan Kingdom after India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra last month met King Jigme Singhye Wangchuk. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |