The Army on September 26 gunned down seven suspected Bangladesh-based Harkatul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) militants in Assam’s Dhubri district. The alleged militants were reportedly planning to join another HuJI team hiding in Guwahati. A large quantity of arms and ammunitions including four revolvers, two pistols, three grenades, a bomb weighing 400gm, a pen pistol, and 2 kilograms of RDX were recovered from the site of the incident1.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi stated that the threat to Assam from the jehadi groups, including HuJI, was a serious one and asserted that the Army operations in the state would continue till the situation improved. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on September 27, Gogoi reiterated that the threat to Assam was much more due to its long international border with Bangladesh, which was porous and riverine2.

• 1. “Army guns down ‘rebels’ with I-cards,” Telegraph, September 27, 2008, at http://telegraphindia.com/1080927/jsp/frontpage/story_9894963.jsp
• 2. “Jehadi threat to State real, says Gogoi,” Assam Tribune, September 28, 2008, at http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=sep2808/at02