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India police say Assam rebel group torn by dissent
GUWAHATI, India, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Police in the insurgency-racked Indian state
of Assam said on Thursday that a power struggle within a separatist group led to
a clash in which at least 10 people died this week.
G.M Srivastava, additional director general of police for counter- insurgency in
the northeastern state, said the fighting took place at a United Liberation
Front of Asom (ULFA) camp across the border in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
``There has been distrust among the leaders and there is a serious internal
power struggle going on among the ULFA leaders,'' he said.
``At least 10 people have been killed in a group clash in one of the camps
inside Bhutan this week,'' he added, explaining that the violence was
sparked by a rift between ULFA Commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and one of his
deputies.
However, Barua said in a statement that the violence in southern Bhutan
-- where rebel groups of the troubled northeast set up camps in dense forests --
was the work of Indian agents.
``Some agents of the Indian government have infiltrated into a camp in Bhutan
and killed eight of our boys,'' he said. ``This is the game played by Indian
agents to create confusion within the ULFA.''
He charged Srivastava of trying to kill him with the help of a former ULFA
militant, one of hundreds who have surrendered to the government in the past two
years.
Formed in 1979, ULFA is seeking independence for an estimated 25 million people
of the oil- and tea-rich region. Indian security
agencies say ULFA is backed by Pakistani secret agents based in
Bangladesh, which lies to the south of Assam.
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