Hardcore NSCN-K-YA militant shot dead in Arunachal encounter

ITANAGAR — A hardcore cadre of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Khaplang’s Yung Aung faction (NSCN-K-YA) was shot dead by security forces in Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district on Saturday, officials said.

A defence spokesman said that acting on specific information about the movement of cadres of the NSCN-K-YA, which has not signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre, in Longding, Assam Rifles troops launched an operation on Friday.

During the intense operation, the militants attacked the security forces, who also retaliated befittingly. During the fierce gun battle on Saturday, one cadre of the NSCN-K-YA was killed on the spot, the spokesman said. He said that a pistol and some war-like stores were recovered from the site, he said, adding that subsequent search operations are going on to nab the fleeing militants.

Arunachal Pradesh’s mountainous Longding district shares an inter-state border with Nagaland and an unfenced international border with Myanmar.

The Centre has signed ceasefire agreements with eight Naga outfits, including the dominant Naga group, the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) and periodically extended the term of the ceasefire period.

The vital Framework Agreement with the NSCN-IM was signed in 2015 and the Centre also signed the Agreed Position with the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups in 2017. More than 90 rounds of meetings were held between the government and the Naga groups over the decades-old unresolved Naga political issue.

The NSCN-IM has remained firm on its demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas as well as integration of Naga-inhabited areas spread over four northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, besides Myanmar. The Centre has, on a number of occasions, rejected these demands.

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