ULFA militants bomb oil installation in Assam
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Guwahati, India, Jan 25, IRNA
India-Assam-Blast
Separatists bombed an oil installation overnight in India's violence-hit northeastern state of Assam in the latest of a wave of explosions ahead of Republic Day on Thursday, officials today said.
Police said suspected militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) beginning Friday staged at least 16 explosions killing three people and wounding 31 more, besides blowing up six oil and gas installations and three power plants.
A police spokesman said suspected ULFA militants late Tuesday triggered a powerful explosion on an oil installation in eastern Assam's Sivasagar district.
The facility belongs to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), one of India's premier oil and gas exploration companies.
"There was a big blast near a crude oil storage site although the damage was minimal. It would have been devastating had the blast taken place near the huge oil tanks," Chief of Police of Sivasagar district B P Rabha told IRNA by telephone.
An ONGC spokesman said there was a big fire in one of the oil storage facilities in the same district late Tuesday.
"The fire has been put out although we are yet to ascertain if the blaze was a result of some attacks by miscreants or an accidental one," senior ONGC official T Hussain said.
The ULFA has so far not claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Violence often spikes in the days ahead of Republic Day, which this year falls on Thursday.
On the anniversary of the 1950 signing of India's constitution, rebels in Assam and other six northeastern states strike vital installations including crude oil pipelines, trains and road and rail bridges, besides targeting federal soldiers.
"We appeal to the ULFA to stop all forms of violence and solve their problems through negotiations," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
The Indian government has invited representatives of the ULFA for peace talks on February 7 in New Delhi.
ULFA and five other groups have called a 17-hour general strike from 1 am on Thursday to protest the celebrations marking India's transition to a republic in 1950.
Militant groups in seven insurgency-racked northeastern states have for years boycotted national events to protest New Delhi's rule over the oil- and timber-rich region.
There are some 30 rebel groups operating in the region with 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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