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Myanmar support gives NE rebels a shot in the arm

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Deadliest attack on Army in 33 yrs, 20 jawans die

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Govt asks Army to go all-out against NE rebels

NEW DELHI: India is planning to ask Myanmar to step-up “coordinated military operations” to flush out Indian insurgent groups operating from its soil, even as the Army on Friday launched intensive area domination patrols as well as search and destroy missions in Manipur.Another decision taken in the aftermath of the ambush in the Chandel district of Manipur on Thursday, which killed 18 soldiers and injured a dozen others in the deadliest such attack in over three decades, is to bolster the “intelligence network” along the porous 1,643-km land border with Myanmar, said sources.This came after Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag visited Manipur on Friday to review the internal security situation and discuss various counter-insurgency steps being undertaken with top operational commanders, including Eastern Army Command chief Lt-Gen M M S Rai and 3 Corps commander Lt-Gen Bipin Rawat.Indian and Myanmarese armies have been conducting some coordinated operations along their border for over a decade now, especially after India began to provide regular military aid and training to Myanmar to counter China’s deep strategic inroads into the country. But they have been undertaken in a piecemeal manner, without much concrete gains till now.India is now keen that Myanmar undertake sustained operations against militant groups like the NSCN factions, ULFA, United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People's Liberation Army (PLA) and Kannglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), who for long have had bases in the thick jungles along the international border.“The Myanmar government will have to be convinced to direct its forces, which are quite ill-numbered and ill-equipped along the border as of now, to take out the militant camps. If they undertake sustained operations, our forces can intercept the fleeing militants on the border,” said a source.But while this will take some doing over the long-term, the well-planned ambush has also punched holes into the fledgling intelligence network along the border. “It was an intelligence failure since the ambush was not an overnight operation. The 40-50 militants would have required at least three to four weeks of reconnaissance, local liaison, preparation and practice,” said a source.“The militants would have also planned their ex-filtration route back across the border into Myanmar. Better intelligence is required to identify infiltration routes, keep them under surveillance and then hit the militants with full force,” he added.There were, in fact, some intelligence inputs just last month that outfits like the NSCN (Khaplang), KYKL and KCP were planning a major strike but the dots could not be connected in time. The ill-fated 6 Dogra Regiment also probably let down its guard since it was being de-inducted from the insurgency-hit area after an almost three-year tenure.