Heavy casualties inflicted on NSCN(K) during op along Indo- Myanmar border: Army

While neither the defence ministry nor the Indian Army disclosed the number of ultras killed in the early morning operation in the forests near the Indo-Myanmar border, there are unconfirmed reports of nearly 12 NSCN (K) men being gunned down by the troops.

“A column of Indian Army while operating along the Indo-Myanmar border was fired upon by unidentified insurgents. Our troops reacted swiftly and brought down heavy retaliatory fire on the insurgents. The insurgents then broke contact and fled from the spot,” Kolkata-based Eastern Command of the Indian Army said in an official statement.

“As per inputs, a large number of casualties were suffered by the insurgents. Our troops suffered no casualties during the firefight,” the statement said. The operation in Long Khu near Mon district of Nagaland took place around 4.45 AM.

Indian Army officials in Delhi and Kolkata denied the operation being a surgical strike inside the Myanmar territory.

“Our troops did not cross the international border,” said the eastern command statement.

This is the second major offensive against the NSCN (Khaplang) militants in a month.

On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in the first week of September, there was another Army ambush on the Naga rebels in which at least one was killed and another one was injured.

While gunfight with the insurgents happened for decades in the forested hills and plains of the northeast, the extent confrontation with the Naga militants enhanced since 2015 when the Army is believed to have carried out a surgical strike on the Naga militants inside the Myanmar territory, to avenge the killing of 18 soldiers, who were ambushed at Chandel in Manipur.

Army maintained the operation to take revenge happened near the Indo-Myanmar border and not inside the territory of another country.