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| India-Pakistan |
| Bhutan unearths huge arms cache |
| 2003-12-23 |
| Apart from the killing of large number of their cadres, the ULFA and NDFB also lost huge amount of arms and ammunition during the ongoing army offensive against the outfits and KLO in Bhutan. As per the list given by the Bhutan government to its Indian counterpart, more than 700 types of assorted weapons have been so far seized from the camps which were busted in the jungles, according to official sources here. As many as 500 AK-47 rifles, over 100 pistols and other sophisticated weapons as anti-aircraft guns, 60 mm mortars, SLRs besides 150,000 rounds of ammunition and 80,000 rounds of AK series ammunition, were seized from the camps. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #5 The big problem is, it's only about 40 miles from the Bhutan border across India to the Bangladesh border. There are places where it's only five or six miles between Bangladesh and Nepal. There's also a third small kingdom, Sikkim, between Nepal and Bhutan, but it's so landlocked it's almost impossible to go THROUGH it - better to go around. The area's a nightmare for India, because it's the bottleneck to India's eastern provinces. Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan are all mountainous, but the portion of India that goes around and between these nations and Bangladesh is rather flat - part of the Ganges-Bramaputra floodplain. To add to India's miseries, the Nagas of the far eastern portion of the country along Burma's border are also seeking to create a "tribal homeland". The whole area is a bonfire ready to be kindled. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-12-23 1:44:39 PM |
| #4 Phil#2: Paul's source for his related post asserts the Indian Army is active, trying to seal the border, quietly helping behind the scenes. It would appear New Delhi was 1) cued, 2) not displeased by the setpic-tank-mucking. Hard to tell from the map, and probably some rugged country, but it looks like there's no escape from Bhutan without crossing either Indian or Chinese territory. |
| Posted by: Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-23 4:32:29 AM |
| #3 These rebel groups are active in the North Eastern states of India, far away from the Pakistani border. Although if the ceasefire does hold for the next few months at least, then the Indians could transfer some of their troops to those states. However, the major base of all these tribal based, non-muslim groups is Bangladesh, which refuses to do anything to crackdown on the camps or the leadership of these groups, which are now their only sanctuary. This is because Bangladesh is currently ruled by a coalition of Nationalist and Islamist parties, both of whom are anti-India and pro-Pakistan. |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2003-12-23 12:37:50 AM |
| #2 If the truce with Pakistan turns out to be real (although I'm not holding my breath) wouldn't that free up more Indian troops to control the Indian side of the border? With any luck, that would leave them with only having dependable sanctuary in Nepal, if there, right? |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2003-12-23 12:32:34 AM |
| #1 I'm starting to love the hell out of this operation. I know the bad guys are still going to be in business this time next year, but it feels good to see them getting seriously beat up. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-12-23 12:18:46 AM |