Two soldiers killed, nine injured in militant ambush in Arunachal Pradesh

The militants reportedly opened fire at an Assam Rifles convoy between Lolchang and Ninu village near the Khonsa town.

New Delhi: Two army soldiers were killed and nine other jawans injured when NSCN-K militants ambushed their convoy in defence spokesman said.

The militants opened fire at an Assam Rifles convoy at Nginu village in Tirap district near the India-Myanmar border.

The attack took place around 2 pm.

"Soldiers belonging to the 16 Assam Rifles were returning from a patrol when the heavily armed militants fired at them. While two of them including a JCO (junior commissioner officer) died, eight others were injured.

"The condition of two of them are stated to be serious," IANS quoted a defence spokesman as saying.

"We believe it to be the handiwork of anti-talk faction, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang militants who have some presence in Tirap district.

According to ANI, a massive search operation was underway after the attack.

This is the second major attack on the security forces in less than a month in the northeast.

Last month, three soldiers were killed and four others were injured in Assam's Tinsukia district in a similar attack by the ultras.

An army convoy was ambushed by militants, suspected to be a breakaway faction of ULFA, when they were returning from an operation in the district.

The militants triggered an IED blast before raining bullets on the convoy.