Digboi: A search operation was underway in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district after suspected cadres of the ULFA-Independent (ULFA-I) and NSCN-K (Yung Aung) opened fire on an Assam Rifles post at Longvi under Nampong Police Station on Friday morning.
The attack took place around 3:15 am, prompting Assam Rifles personnel to retaliate. The attackers reportedly fled into the surrounding jungle following the exchange of fire, after which security forces launched an operation to trace them.
No casualties have been reported in the incident. Security forces have also intensified surveillance and area domination around the post and adjoining forested areas.
Security sources have suspected the involvement of ULFA-I or NSCN-K-YA, both of which had earlier called for a boycott of Independence Day celebrations. However, there has been no independent confirmation or verified claim of responsibility so far.
The attack comes a day before the country’s 80th Independence Day, with security agencies maintaining heightened vigilance across the region amid concerns over possible attempts to disrupt the celebrations.
Security has also been strengthened along vulnerable stretches of the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. Forces have intensified patrolling, area domination and surveillance in sensitive pockets, particularly along the inter-state frontier and routes considered vulnerable to militant movement.
The incident is the latest in a series of armed confrontations in Changlang. On January 26, an Assam Rifles camp at Ranglom came under firing and explosions, with the NSCN/GPRN (Yung Aung) claiming responsibility.
In March, an Assam Rifles personnel was injured by gunfire during firing along the India-Myanmar border in Changlang.
Security forces have also intensified operations against insurgent networks through arrests and surrender drives across the frontier belt.
In Assam, Tinsukia district, which shares a sensitive boundary with Changlang, has also seen security operations against ULFA-I. In June, two suspected ULFA-I cadres were apprehended at Jagun, with police recovering AK-56 rifles, 172 rounds of ammunition, grenades and other war-like stores
Four ULFA-I cadres, on August 8, surrendered before the Assam Rifles in Longding, depositing weapons, ammunition and other war-like stores.
The operation to locate the suspected attackers was continuing, with security agencies maintaining heightened alert across the region.