Imphal, Sep 12 (Inditop.com) Four paramilitary troopers were killed and six injured, two of them critically, in Manipur Saturday after an ambush by separatists with rocket launchers, officials said.
A police spokesperson said heavily armed militants from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) opened indiscriminate fire on a convoy of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) near Oksu village, 20 km east of state capital Imphal, around mid-day.
“The IRB convoy was on a routine patrol in the area when PLA militants resorted to heavy firing from a hilltop killing three paramilitary troopers on the spot,” a senior police official said requesting not to be named.
Earlier, police said the attack was carried out on a Border Security Force (BSF) convoy.
“The IRB personnel were carrying a sick colleague in the convoy from one of their posts for advanced treatment in Imphal when the ambush took place,” the official said.
There were 14 IRB soldiers in all, including the sick trooper, but he survived the attack.
The militants decamped with the service weapons of those killed.
The PLA is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Metei community in a state of 2.4 million.
There are about 20 militant groups active in Manipur, bordering Myanmar, their demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.
More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Manipur during the past two decades.
