Crossfire War – TEHRAN WATCH – South Asia Theatre: Tehran – Islamabad – Dhaka/Delhi; Three Grenade Attacks in India Northeast Province Assam – UFLA Assisted by Islamic Intelligence Services
Night Watch: GUWAHATI – In a way this is a follow up to yesterday’s article that Indian separatists groups in India’s northeast are now receiving outside support from Islamic intelligence and state services in Tehran-Islamabad-Dhaka. On Sunday 16 people were injured in a grenade attack by the United Front for the Liberation of Asom (UFLA). The attack took place in the town of Jonai, 300 miles (520 km) east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati. The separatists were targeting a police convoy but the grenade fell short and wounded evening shoppers instead. [WEBINDIA]
On Saturday the same group attacked an army convoy in Dibrugarh district and on Friday a police station was missed by another grenade attack in Tinsukia district. Assam Police Chief Dipak Narayan Dutt stated, “This is nothng but attempts at creating panic by militants ahead of the Independence Day and we have intelligence inputs about such plans.” The separatists movements in northeast India are nothing new and are about as old as India’s independence, August 15, 1947. But what has made them more of a threat is the substantial outside support Tehran is now providing through Islamabad and Dhaka. A major threat along this front would prevent Delhi from concentrating its forces against Pakistan-Iran in Kashmir and Punjab.
Northern Bangladesh borders Assam and it would not be too difficult for supplies to be sent across it. What makes matters worse is that India and Bangladesh have serious border disputes that often result in exchanges of fire. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said Delhi is ready for unconditional peace talks with the UFLA but the group has shown no interest in engaging in them. Fighting and attacks will increase, on all fronts, with the end of the monsoon in September.
