Indian Soldiers Killed in Militant Ambush in Nagaland

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/world/asia/india-nagaland-soldiers-killed-in-militant-ambush.html

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NEW DELHI — At least eight Indian soldiers were fatally shot by separatist militants in the northeastern state of Nagaland on Sunday, according to the police. The killings took place in the afternoon when a truck carrying soldiers was ambushed by militants from a faction of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Mon district.

“We received the news of eight casualties,” said G. Akheto Sema, additional director general of police in Nagaland by telephone from Kohima, the state capital. “The soldiers were ambushed and fired upon. Most probably the militants belonged to the Khaplang faction of the N.S.C.N. because their cease-fire with the central government is recently abrogated.”

The socialist council is fighting for a separate homeland consisting of areas dominated by the Naga tribes in India’s restive northeast.

Last month, council militants killed three Indian soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh, another state in the northeast. The security forces in turn killed several militants.

The authorities did not offer more information on Sunday’s attack, but local news media reported that the soldiers were ambushed when they stopped to fetch water from a stream near the village of Changlangshu. The militants opened fire with rifles. The soldiers returned fire and killed some assailants, but the number of casualties was not immediately known. Several soldiers were wounded in the attack, according to the local news reports.

The Indian government negotiated with the council’s different factions and entered into cease-fire agreements with them. But the government refused to extend the cease-fire with the Khaplang faction after the agreement was frequently violated.