archive: ISI operatives, N-E rebels are in touch
ISI operatives, N-E rebels are in touch
Rezaul H. Laskar
The Asian Age
June 20, 1999
Title: ISI operatives, N-E rebels are in touch
Author: Rezaul H. Laskar
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: June 20, 1999
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has asked its operatives and
insurgent outfits in the Northeast to provide details of the movement
of Army troops from the region to Kashmir.
Sources in the home ministry told The Asian Age that intelligence
agencies had, over the past two weeks, intercepted numerous radio
messages from the IS I to its operatives in the Northeast, seeking
detailed information on the diversion of the Army and para-military
troops to the Kargil sector. The radio messages were also intercepted
by, military intelligence. Significantly, the ISI has sought similar
information from North-eastern insurgent outfits which have received
its support, the home ministry sources said.
Among these outfits is the United Liberation Front of Asom, whose
cadres have been trained by ISI operatives both in India and abroad.
The ISI, which has been active in the Northeast for over a decade, has
often provided financial assistance to the Ulfa and other insurgent
groups from the region.
Paresh Barua, the commander-in-chief of the Ulfa's army wing, is at
present based in Karachi, the sources said.
Barua and other senior Ulfa leaders moved to Karachi after the Bhutan
government directed the Ulfa to wind up its training camps and other
bases in the mountain kingdom in May.
Troops from the Army's two mountain divisions which are based in the
North-eastern region. as well as Central Reserve Police Force and
Border Security Force personnel, were recently diverted to the Kashmir
sector. Senior home ministry officials are confident that the
withdrawal of these troops from the region will not have an adverse
impact on anti-insurgency operations in the North-east.
"There is a ceasefire in Nagaland which has held, and it is likely to
be extended next month. In other states, the insurgent groups are not
in a position to launch any major strikes," a senior home ministry
official said. The home ministry, however, is leaving nothing to
chance. "The situation in the insurgency-affected North-eastern
states is being monitored on a daily basis in view of the Kargil
situation, and firm action will be taken to prevent any new offensives
by the militants," the official said.
Meanwhile, the Ulfa has regained access to its accounts in a major
Bangladesh bank over the past two months, home ministry sources said.
According to home ministry estimates, a total of Rs 400 crores is
stashed away in these accounts.
The accounts were frozen by the Awami League government following the
improvement in Indo-Bangla ties during the tenure of Prime Minister
I.K. Gujral.
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