Bhutan to clear Ulfa, NDFB camps

Aug. 25: Bhutan may launch operation soon to flush out militant camps reported to have been set up by the outlawed Ulfa and NDFB in its fringe areas adjoining Assam.
Disclosing that Bhutan has reiterated its assurances to home minister P. Chidambaram that it will not allow the militant outfits to use its territory against India, an authoritative security sources told this newspaper that Mr Chidambaram apprised his counterpart on the Ulfa and NDFB using Bhutan’s territory by setting up small camps.
Mr Chidambaram was on a goodwill mission to Bhutan on Friday.
Though, they have not been able to set up any full-fledged camp, Ulfa and NDFB rebels are reported to have been imparting training to new recruits in a group of seven or eight in Bhutan woods.
The outlawed militants have suffered a severe setback after Operation Flushout in 2003, after which they were forced to take shelter in Bangladesh and Burma.
The security sources said that Mr Chidambaram succeeded in convincing his counterpart in Bhutan that the Ulfa and NDFB militants, based in Assam, are regrouping and may try to enter Bhutan to set up camps. Bhutan has also agreed to step up vigil along the international border to check the free movement insurgents through the border, adjoining Assam.
Refusing to divulge more details about the nature of operation, security sources said that Bhutan is concerned about its territory and operations may be to sanitize their territory from militant incursion.
According to information, these separatist groups are in close collaboration with anti-national groups of Bhutan like Communist Party of Bhutan (MLM), Bhutan Tiger Force (BTF) and Revolutionary Youth of Bhutan (RYOB).
Joint secretary of law and order bureau Karma T. Namgyal, who was part of the Bhutanese delegation that held parleys with an Indian team at the seventh border coordination development meeting recently had also admitted, "There is information that certain elements within Ulfa and NDFB are trying to spread misunderstanding and antagonism against Bhutan because of the 2003 operations."
"We’ve also received information that Maoist groups like MLM, BTF and RYOB are receiving trainings from Ulfa and NDFB militants in batches," Mr Namgyal was quoted as saying by the state-run daily Kuensel recently.