Guwahati: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has claimed responsibility for the IED blast Thursday targeting the Assam Rifles at Saibol village in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district, according to a post on the outfit’s official website cited by security officials.
“This intense encounter unfolded at the strategic juncture of Narum and Saibol, situated in Tengnoupal district, just 20 km from the town of Moreh,” read the post by the proscribed insurgent outfit.
Earlier, security sources had suspected the involvement of PLA in the attack.
Founded in 1978, the PLA is one of the most powerful armed insurgent groups fighting to “liberate” Manipur. It is also among the nine “Meitei extremist organisations” recently banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the next five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Around 8 am-8:15am, a patrol party of Assam Rifles came under an IED attack by “unidentified insurgents” at Saibol, around 4-5 km from the Company Operating Base of the paramilitary unit, a defence official told ThePrint.
The IED blast was followed by an ambush on the Casspir mine-resistant vehicle. No one was injured in the incident. Troops retaliated with fire and all precautions were taken to ensure there was no collateral damage.
Combing operations were launched in the area to trace and neutralise the insurgents who managed to escape into the jungle, said security sources.
A security analyst told ThePrint that insurgency has resurfaced in Manipur, with armed outfits carrying out planned attacks on security forces in the region. The PLA is among the several separatist insurgent groups in the Northeast that continue to reject the offer of talks with the government.
This is an updated version of the report
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