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Bhutanese troops block supply lines of Indian separatists

IRNA

Guwahati, Dec 26, IRNA -- Bhutanese troops continued with their 
assaults to expel Indian separatists as the Buddhist nation blocked 
all supply lines of essentials leading to the rebel hideouts, 
officials Friday said. 
"The rebels are now being pushed deep inside the jungles and very 
soon we are expecting them to give up with all possible routes of food
supplies blocked by our troops," a Royal Bhutan Army commander told 
IRNA by telephone from the southern Samdrup Jhonkhar district. 
"Any Bhutanese national found helping the militants would be 
punished severely." Bhutanese troops have arrested at least a dozen of
its nationals on charges of aiding and abetting the Indian rebels 
since the offensive to expel some 3,000 militants from the kingdom 
began December 15. 
"The operation are continuing and has reached a crucial stage 
now," the commander said. "The militants are on the run and moved deep
inside the jungles with our troops on their trail. They cannot 
continue to remain in the kingdom for long." Bhutan on Wednesday 
handed over 60 women and children of rebel families to Indian 
authorities in the border state of Assam. 
Bhutan says it has destroyed 30 rebel camps, adding that militants
were still hiding in heavily forested region. 
The kingdom has released no casualty figures. But India, which 
helps train Bhutanese army, has reported the deaths of 134 rebels and 
eight Bhutanese troops and logistical personnel in Bhutan`s first 
military operation since 1865. 
Two separatist groups from Assam - the outlawed United Liberation 
Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland 
(NDFB) - have well-entrenched bases in Bhutan. The separatist 
Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO) from West Bengal also has 
bases in Bhutan. 
Both the ULFA and the NDFB are fighting for independent homelands 
in Assam and carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on Indian 
security forces from their bases in Bhutan. The ULFA Thursday rejected
the amnesty offered by the provincial government in the border state 
of Assam for those rebels willing to surrender before authorities. "We
are not going to surrender," an ULFA statement said. 
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Tuesday offered an amnesty to 
encourage the surrender of anti-Indian rebels fleeing a military 
crackdown against them in neighbouring Bhutan. 
/211 
End