Toll in Assam-Nagaland border firing now 11

Guwahati, Aug 15:

The toll in a firing incident near the Assam-Nagaland border in Golaghat district of Assam rose to 11 Friday with the recovery of nine more bodies, officials said, as simmering tension continued in the area.

Home Commissioner G.D. Tripathy said there was no fresh violence in the area in the past two days.

“The situation is under control now. There has been no violence since Wednesday. However, we have decided to continue the night curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.,” he said.

Attackers from Nagaland fired indiscriminately in villages in Uriamghat region of Assam Tuesday night, killing two people and injuring three others.

Over 100 houses were burnt, which forced around 10,000 people to take shelter in relief camps, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said Thursday.

The chief minister said Naga militant outfits – supposed to be under ceasefire – may be behind the firing.

The area along the Assam-Nagaland border has been under dispute since the creation of Nagaland in 1963 and the CRPF has been stationed there as a neutral force since 1979.

Gogoi and Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang are scheduled to meet Aug 21 over the issue.

A case is also pending in the Supreme Court on the boundary demarcation.

Meanwhile, an indefinite economic blockade imposed by some groups in Rangajan along the National Highway 39 in Golaghat district and along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sivasagar district to protest the attacks continued the third day Friday. It affected supplies to Nagaland’s main commercial town Dimapur.

(IANS)