- News>
- Asia
Bhutan says Indian rebels are pulling out
Bhutan said Thursday that Indian separatist rebels have closed one camp and are winding down three others, according to an agreement reached in June to reduce their presence in the small Himalayan kingdom on India`s border by the end of the year.
Bhutan said Thursday that Indian separatist rebels have closed one camp and are winding down three others, according to an agreement reached in June to reduce their presence in the small Himalayan kingdom on India's border by the end of the year.
"Rebels of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have already closed one camp located inside our country and are in the process of winding up three more bases besides, reducing the number of their cadres here," Bhutans Home Secretary Tasho Pema Wangchuk told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from the Bhutan capital, Thimphu.
The ULFA had given written assurance in June that it would remove four of its nine camps in the Buddhist kingdom by Dec 31, and reduce the number of fighters.
"We are watching the pullout very carefully. After the rebel group fulfills its commitment of closing down four camps by Dec 31, we shall immediately sit with its leaders to work out the modalities for the closure of the remaining five camps and their total withdrawal from the country," Wangchuk said.
ULFA is fighting for a sovereign nation of Assam and was declared illegal in 1990. Many of its fighters crossed into Bhutan after a sustained Indian counterinsurgency offensive.
Indian intelligence sources said ULFA had, until recently, 36 camps inside Bhutan, some of them well-entrenched bases, complete with firing ranges and other training and recreational facilities. An estimated 2000 fighters are led by ULFA deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah.
Their presence topped Bhutan's national agenda with the National Assembly discussing the issue continuously for the past five years. Elected representatives have asked the government to resolve the issue peacefully and use the country's poorly equipped military to evict the rebels if they refuse to leave the kingdom.
During Bhutans National Day celebrations last week, King Jigme Singhye Wangchuk said if the ULFA closed down four of its camps by the end of this month, as promised, his government would make every effort to resolve the problem through peaceful dialogue.
However, according to a report in this weeks edition of Kuensel, Bhutans national newspaper, the king warned that if the rebels refuse to leave the kingdom, there would be no option but to send the security forces to remove them from Bhutanese soil. Bureau Report
"Rebels of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have already closed one camp located inside our country and are in the process of winding up three more bases besides, reducing the number of their cadres here," Bhutans Home Secretary Tasho Pema Wangchuk told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from the Bhutan capital, Thimphu.
The ULFA had given written assurance in June that it would remove four of its nine camps in the Buddhist kingdom by Dec 31, and reduce the number of fighters.
"We are watching the pullout very carefully. After the rebel group fulfills its commitment of closing down four camps by Dec 31, we shall immediately sit with its leaders to work out the modalities for the closure of the remaining five camps and their total withdrawal from the country," Wangchuk said.
ULFA is fighting for a sovereign nation of Assam and was declared illegal in 1990. Many of its fighters crossed into Bhutan after a sustained Indian counterinsurgency offensive.
Indian intelligence sources said ULFA had, until recently, 36 camps inside Bhutan, some of them well-entrenched bases, complete with firing ranges and other training and recreational facilities. An estimated 2000 fighters are led by ULFA deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah.
Their presence topped Bhutan's national agenda with the National Assembly discussing the issue continuously for the past five years. Elected representatives have asked the government to resolve the issue peacefully and use the country's poorly equipped military to evict the rebels if they refuse to leave the kingdom.
During Bhutans National Day celebrations last week, King Jigme Singhye Wangchuk said if the ULFA closed down four of its camps by the end of this month, as promised, his government would make every effort to resolve the problem through peaceful dialogue.
However, according to a report in this weeks edition of Kuensel, Bhutans national newspaper, the king warned that if the rebels refuse to leave the kingdom, there would be no option but to send the security forces to remove them from Bhutanese soil. Bureau Report