<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Three soldiers were killed and four seriously wounded on Saturday in an attack in Assam, officials said. Heavily armed militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) ambushed an army convoy near the Pengeri reserve forest in the eastern Assam district of Tinsukia, about 550 km (340 miles) from the state’s main city of Guwahati. The vehicle they were travelling in was damaged after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by suspected ULFA terrorists went off.”Militants belonging to the ULFA militants attacked the army convoy with rocket propelled grenades, hitting a truck and a jeep. Three soldiers were killed and four critically injured in the attack,” Mukesh Agarwal, Assam’s additional police chief, told Reuters. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told ANI, “I strongly condemn this attack, the perpetrators will be punished. I have directed officials to go to Tinsukia.”Home Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed anguish over the incident. “Deeply anguished to learn of the death of army soldiers in a blast in Tinsukia. I pray for the speedy recovery of our injured soldiers.”The Home Minister also said he spoke to Sonowal.The injured were airlifted to a nearby army base hospital with multiple wounds, according to the officials. “The area is thickly forested and that gave the militants an edge to attack and escape immediately after the strike,” an army commander said, requesting not to be identified. Army, police, and paramilitary troopers have since launched a massive hunt for the rebels and to seal escape routes, an army official said. The ULFA has been fighting for an independent homeland in Assam since 1979. It now operates out of bases in Myanmar, bordering Assam. With inputs from ANI/Reuters.
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3 soldiers killed, 4 injured after IED blast hits army convoy in Assam
