GUWAHATI: A top leader of an insurgent group in Nagaland, who was involved in last month’s ambush on a two-vehicle convoy of Assam Rifles, was apprehended by the force on Friday night.
According to defence sources, the arrested rebel leader, identified as self-styled “Maj Gen” Yanghang aka Mopa, is the senior most member of the Yung Aung faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) operating in Nagaland.
He was captured by troops of 35 Assam Rifles on the Aboi-Mon road in Mon district along with two fellow rebels. “The self-styled general is the senior most officer of the NSCN-K Yung Aung Faction operating in Nagaland. He was considered responsible for the ambush on a team of 40 Assam Rifles last month,” a defence source said.
Two personnel were killed and four others were grievously injured in the ambush. The incident had taken place on May 25 at a place near the India-Myanmar border. The insurgents had triggered an IED blast which was followed by indiscriminate firing.
The apprehension of the top insurgent leader comes even as the security forces are going hard at rebels belonging to the rebel group in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The Yung Aung faction of the NSCN-K, which is made up of Indian and Myanmarese Nagas, operates from the jungles of Myanmar. In February, the Myanmar Army had launched a massive offensive against militant groups from India’s Northeast, including NSCN-K’s Yung Aung faction. Several camps were destroyed and a number of the rebels captured.