A section of ULFA announces a unilateral ceasefire in Assam; Reports: Chinese arms best choice for NE insurgents
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  • A section of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) belonging to the Alpha and Charlie companies of the 28 battalion – reportedly the outfit’s most potent military unit, declared a unilateral ceasefire on June 24. ULFA has four battalions, the 28, 27, 109 and 709, with each comprising three companies each1. The Alpha and Charlie comprised about 150 cadres. Hours before the unilateral ceasefire, 51 ULFA cadres belonging to the 28, 709 and 27 battalions laid down their arms before the Army in Jorhat and Baksa districts respectively.

    Meanwhile, the Assam Police arrested senior Peoples’ Consultative Group (PCG) member Hiranya Saikia from Guwahati on June 22 on charges of his alleged link with ULFA. Saikia is the second PCG member to be arrested within four months2.

    In Nagaland, 8 Naga insurgents were killed in two separate clashes between the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) near Dimapur on June 263.

    Sentinel quoting unspecified intelligence sources reported that a huge quantity of Chinese arms has started reaching the Northeast insurgent outfits. The traditional suppliers of illegal arms coming into the Northeast - Cambodia and Thailand, were now being replaced by Chinese arms and other sophisticated weapons trafficked along the international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh. According to the report, the Myanmarese insurgent outfit, United Waa State Army (UWSA), was playing a major role in the trafficking of Chinese arms. Sources further indicated that the arms reached the North East through at least four corridors passing through the Barak Valley4.

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