Posted on 08/07/2005 7:18:40 AM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
An explosion has badly damaged an oil pipeline in the north-east Indian state of Assam, police say. Police said they suspect the involvement of the separatist rebel group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa).
They said the blast, which took place on Saturday night, set off a huge fire in Assam's northern Shibsagar district.
The damage to the pipeline forced the authorities to suspend oil supplies to two oil refineries in the state.
It took several hours to control the fire.
"There was a big fire immediately after the blast and several houses nearby caught fire," Reuters quotes a local police officer as saying.
Earlier on Saturday, suspected Ulfa rebels threw a grenade at the crowded Paltan Bazaar market, in the state's commercial capital of Guwahati.
One person was wounded in the blast.
Analysts say efforts to open a dialogue between the Indian government and Ulfa have almost fallen through after Delhi refused to release 10 senior rebel leaders.
Ulfa had set the freedom of the rebel leaders as a condition to begin talks with the government.
rebels = muslims
look it up
Beautifully done map on a hard-to-locate part of the world. Thanks. ( Note the red Chinese/Indian disputed zone).
"Police said they suspect the involvement of the separatist rebel group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa)."
Uffah!
"Assam's northern Shibsagar district."
Must be Sibsager on the map?
Sibsagar
Here is a nested series of links to prior events leading up to this situation. The more recent of the posts, the airlift in relief of Manipur, was put up 6 AM this morning:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458576/posts
The red areas that you see on the map is a disputed area and is currently held by India and is called Arunachal Pradesh. It is province has the famous Buddhist Tawang monastry (you can find Tawang close to Indo-China border) and is among the few remaining Tibetan Buddhist monastry still active today.
The ULFAs operate in the region below the red area called Assam (which is not disputed). The terrorist outfits have their bases in Bangladesh and Burma. The ULFAs are funded and armed by the Chinese(from China and Burma) and Pakistani ISI from(Bangladesh).
Currently the ULFA movement is in its dying phase with most of the cadres having surrendered, killed or fled the region. Most of the rebel bases in Assam(India) have been destroyed. The moderate factions have signed an agreement and ended their struggle and the remaining other factions are being engaged in a dialog. The terrorist attacks are being carried out by the last remaining radical groups and now the ULFA movement is mostly hijacked by the Pakistani ISI. They now choose soft targets to take on the might of Indian State.
Thanks for the very informed update. The Royal Bhutan Army has also provide " unofficial" assistance to ULFA. These guys may be withering, but they still have enough kick to blow up a pipeline, and in co-odination with the Naga tribesmen, to force an airlift. I repeat: if these folks are so moribund, then who is doing the military co-ordination?
"The Royal Bhutan Army has also provide " unofficial" assistance to ULFA."
Bhutan in the past had been a safe heaven for the ULFA terrorists. Diplomatically Bhutan was off limits for the Indian Army and as a result Bhutan with its mountainous regions, hilly forest cover and its proximity to Assam was the most ideal place to establish their bases. Royal Bhutanese Army was not strong enough and was poorly equipped to take on the dreaded ULFA and as a result allowed them to carry on their activity from the Bhutanese soil as long as the ULFA didnt direct their activities against Bhutan. It was after India applying diplomatic pressure on that Kingdom that the Royal Bhutanese Army decided to take on the ULFA. The Bhutanese didnt want Indian Army intervention but decided to take on the ULFA all by themselves but with substantial amount of help of the Indian Army. The joint operation turned out to be very successful.
"These guys may be withering, but they still have enough kick to blow up a pipeline, and in co-odination with the Naga tribesmen, to force an airlift. I repeat: if these folks are so moribund, then who is doing the military co-ordination?"
An airlift is not very uncommon in these areas especially now in the rainy seasons. The rains are always heavy in these parts and more often the roads are blocked by landslides and it takes days for supplies to reach remote areas. Also lets not forget the North Eastern region(except for Assam) does not have rail roads due to the treacherous geographic condition. Its not very uncommon that much of India's remote areas remains cut-off or inaccessible by roads during monsoon or winter. In fact for most of the times an airlift is the only option available. Now all you need is the various groups like the NSCN to take advantage of the situation. The already difficult terrain can be made more difficult and inaccessible by random ambushs on the National highway. The dense forest cover and mountains gives them enough place to hide and lookout for government/military convoys.
The blowing up of the pipeline is another incident carried out in another area by another group. The ULFA blowing up a pipeline is a sign that they are now choosing soft targets. An indication that they are not as strong as they used to be. The once dreaded ULFAs in the early nineties actually controlled a part of Assam where the government machinery had severely weakened and police or law enforcement body had not much authority.
All that has changed completely, the ULFA no longer holds any area or have any popular support but it still enjoys ample support from the Pakistani ISI and China. They have no shortage of funding, weaponry or explosives. The ULFA today is mostly hijacked by Pakistan and its operations are run from bases in Bangladesh (thats where you have their entire command and control structure and its form here that most of the operations are coordinated). The ULFA today lacks a political agenda and is almost completely run by their Pakistani masters. And hence you have attacks of the kind (like blowing up pipelines) which is directed at the economy of the state.
BTW here is a link to a BBC article which states that ULFA has officially claimed responsibility for the attack on the pipeline:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4129254.stm
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