Author: IANS
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: June 16, 2002
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/160602/dLNAT28.asp
Bhutanese troops have been put on
maximum alert following reports that a new Indian militant group is operating
from inside the tiny Himalayan kingdom, a report said on Sunday.
Kamatapur Liberation Organisation
(KLO) militants had been spotted along the Wangchu river in the southern
district of Chukha, Bhutan's Home Minister Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho told
a high-level security meeting earlier this week.
"Although it was a small group,
the KLO's proximity to Chukha and to Bhutanese capital Thimphu was a reason
for concern and called for appropriate responses," Gyamtsho was quoted
as saying by the Kuensel, Bhutan's government-run newspaper, on Sunday.
The KLO was formed in 1995 to carve
out an independent homeland for the Koch- Rajbongshi tribes from six districts
of India's eastern state of West Bengal and one district in adjoining northeastern
state of Assam through armed struggle.
"We came to know about the KLO camp
along the Wangchu river, very close to Chukha, earlier this year," the
minister said.
Gyamtsho said increasing security
at Chukha was a priority because of two vital hydroelectric projects there,
as well as the main trade and commercial highway running through the area.
"Our people will have to be better
informed and in case the security situation deteriorates we may even have
to evacuate some of our villagers," the minister said.
Indian intelligence reports said
a large number of KLO militants have received arms training at camps in
Bhutan run by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
The ULFA, an outlawed rebel group
fighting for an independent homeland in India's Assam state, at present,
operates out of well-entrenched bases inside southern Bhutan, using them
to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on Indian troops.
Bhutan has repeatedly urged the
Indian militants to leave the kingdom.
"If the Indian militants do not
leave the kingdom on their own, our troops would be forced to launch a
military crackdown on the rebel camps," a Bhutanese foreign ministry spokesperson
told AFP by telephone Sunday from Thimphu.
However, the Bhutanese government
has so far not taken direct action against the Indian militants for fear
of retaliatory attacks on its nationals.
