10 injured in powerful explosion in India
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Guwahati, India, Jan 20 -- At least ten people, including eight paramilitary troopers, were seriously wounded Friday in a powerful explosion in an oil refinery in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said.
A police spokesman said a powerful blast took place at the oil refinery entrance in Assam's main city of Guwahati. The blast took place around 7 PM.
"Eight Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guards and two civilians were injured in the explosion," a senior police official told IRNA requesting anonymity.
"Preliminary investigations indicate it could be an improvised explosive device planted near the gate. We are examining the site of the blast and more details would be available later."
The injured were shifted to hospital with multiple injuries.
"There was a big explosion and what followed the blast utter chaos.
The area was not fully lighted and so nobody knew what had happened," Dhiraj Nath, a local vendor, said.
There was no damage to the refinery. Police suspects the blast was carried out by militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
"We believe the explosion was the handiwork of the ULFA," the official said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.
The ULFA along with five more rebel groups in the northeast Friday called a 17-hour general strike beginning Thursday to protest the country's Republic Day celebrations.
"For us this is the day (January 26) when the constitution of India was imposed on us 56 years ago legalizing Indian colonial occupation in the region," a joint statement by the six rebel groups said.
"Therefore, in the above spirit for unity, this solidarity statement calls upon all the freedom loving peoples of the Region to boycott India's Republic Day and also to prevent any such celebrations from being held in our region."
Among the militant groups party to the strike call were the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Kamotapur Liberation Organization (KLO), the Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK).
The rebel statement said the general strike would last from 1:00 am until 6:00 pm Thursday in the states of Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
Rebel groups in Meghalaya and Nagaland have not called for a boycott of the celebrations, while the two other northeastern states of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh do not have any insurgency problem now.
Militants in the insurgency-hit northeast have for years been boycotting India's Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations to protest New Delhi's rule over the vast region rich in oil, tea and timber.
The run-up to the events has always been violent, with rebels striking vital installations including crude oil pipelines, trains and road and rail bridges, besides targeting federal soldiers.
On Thursday, police in Assam arrested three ULFA rebels with arms and ammunition from the state's main city of Guwahati and claimed they were part of a team sent by the leadership to create violence in the run-up to the Republic Day celebrations.
Last year, rebel's triggered two powerful blasts at the main Republic Day parade in Guwahati although no one died in the attacks.
Federal troops have already taken up positions in vulnerable areas across the region, conducting aerial surveillance over vital installations.
"We are not taking any chances and are prepared to thwart all plans by the militants to sabotage the Republic Day celebrations," an army commander engaged in counter insurgency operations in Assam said requesting anonymity.
More than 30 rebel armies operate in the northeastern states, their demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination.
More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.
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