When Pak Armed, Trained Assam Insurgents And Sent Them Back To India
NDTV
The first batch of ULFA militants was trained in Pakistan in 1991-92 in three groups comprising a total of about 40 members
Pakistan armed and trained the first batch of insurgents of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in 1991-92, and sent them back to India to stir trouble in the northeast region, according to writer and researcher Rajeev Bhattacharyya, whose latest work details the untold story of the outlawed separatist outfit.
Between 1996 and 2004, insurgents from outfits in the northeast such as the NDFB, PLA, and ATTF were trained at different locations in Pakistan with a focus on assembling bombs through sophisticated technology, Mr Bhattacharyya says in 'ULFA: The Mirage of Dawn', based on interviews with ULFA members in the northeast, Myanmar, Bangladesh, former officers engaged in counter-insurgency operations, as well as papers of ULFA leaders.
"It is estimated that around a hundred rebel functionaries had received the training during this period. One ULFA batch was also taken to Tora Bora in Afghanistan for training. The modules offered to the rebel groups were of different durations, ranging from 17 days to three months," Mr Bhattacharyya says in the book.
