The Indian Army on Wednesday said that it carried out an operation along the Myanmar border targeting NSCN (K) militants, inflicting "heavy casualties" on the insurgent group in the early hours today. Indian troops suffered no casualties during "retaliatory" fire, the Eastern Command of the Army said.
The Eastern Command also clarified that Army had not crossed the international border and that it was ‘not a surgical strike’. The Army also maintained that its troops suffered no casualties during the action.
The operation was carried out in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday after a column of the Army comprising 80 para commandos operating along Indo-Myanmar border was fired upon by unidentified insurgents of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) at about 4.45 am.
Indian troops reacted swiftly and brought down heavily retaliatory fire on insurgents. The insurgents then broke contact and fled from the spot.
“As per inputs, a large number of casualties were suffered by the insurgents. Own troops suffered no casualties," the Eastern Command said in a statement. It, however, did not tell about the number of insurgents killed or injured in the attack.
"Reports of casualties to Indian Army personnel factually incorrect. Firefight occurred along Indo-Myanmar border at 0445 hrs today,” the Eastern Command’s tweet reads.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh called Myanmar a friendly country and added that he would share the details of the operation later on.
Responding to a question at a cabinet briefing abut the incident, he said, "There are no two opinions that Myanmar is a friendly country. Whatever information we get, we will inform you about it."
NSCN(K) spokesperson on strike
A Facebook post by one Isak Sumi, who is on the 'Most Wanted List' of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), said the encounter occurred on the outskirt of Langkhu village located inside Myanmar occupied Naga area, 10-15 km away from Indo-Myanmar border.
"The encounter started around 3 AM when the elite unit of the Naga Army detected a column of Indian Army approaching their temporary make shift camp in the outskirt of Langkhu village located inside Myanmar occupied Naga area, 10-15 kms away from Indo-Myanmar border. The exchange was continuing till the time of filing this report," said Sumi, who is referred to as the PRO of the NSCN by the NIA on its website updated last year.
He claimed that "three Indian soldiers were killed and an unconfirmed number injured but there was no casualty or injury on the Naga Army".
His post states that he is currently based in Yangon in Myanmar and his social media records as also the details on the NIA website state that he belongs to Zunheboto district in Nagaland.
Army sources have maintained that it was "not a surgical strike". Its response came hours after Sumi's post.
In June 2015, the Army had conducted a similar operation against banned insurgent groups following the killing of 20 soldiers in Manipur.
