Indian troops are reported to have killed at least eight militants when they crossed into Myanmar’s Sagaing Region last week in the second such operation in a year, media reports said.
Initial reports said eight militants were killed in the operation late on May 27 and another 18 were captured and handed over to the Myanmar authorities, the Economic Times said on May 30.
The daily said the operation was launched in response to the deaths of eight Assam Rifles soldiers when insurgents ambushed their convoy in Manipur State on May 22.
The newspaper quoted an Indian military source as saying the number of deaths from the cross-border raid in the remote area could not be confirmed.
“These camps where the action took place are located inside Myanmar beyond the free zone of 16 kilometres,” the official told the Economic Times.
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It quoted an Assam Rifles report as saying the insurgents were members of an umbrella group called the Core Committee, or CorCom, that involved all militant groups operating in valley areas of Manipur.
CorCom had claimed responsibility for the May 22 attack and had released images of its hit squad, the daily said.
In a similar operation last June, Indian commandoes crossed into Sagaing and attacked camps used by Indian insurgent groups after 17 soldiers were killed in an attack on an army camp in Manipur.
Up to 60 insurgents were reported to have died in that operation, the Economic Times said.
