NEW DELHI: The Army on Friday sought the help of its Myanmarese counterparts to track down the militants responsible for Thursday’s attack on 6 Dogra Regiment convoy in Manipur as the militants are believed to have slipped into the neighbouring country.
The Army, which described the attack as ‘meticulously planned’, has intensified its counter-insurgency operations in the NorthEast state.
And Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on Friday visited Imphal to take stock of the situation.
The General’s visit came barely 24 hours after the insurgents had carried out the deadly ambush.
According to officials, the Army Chief was given a briefing by top Commanders and intelligence sleuths at Dimapur-based 3 Corps.
Sources indicated that since no group had claimed responsibility for the attack, it was apparently a joint operation carried out by Manipur-based insurgent outfits-- KYKL (Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup), the KCP (Kangleipak Communist Party) and the Khaplang group of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K).
Calling it a massive intelligence failure, Army sources said, “To carry out such a massive operation, it requires at least three-four weeks of planning. Moreover, it was an intelligence failure from our side. Inquiry will establish if there was any deviation from standard operating procedure (SOP) by the road opening party of the Army convoy. Our men were virtually trapped.”
The Army said majority of those wounded in the ambush had suffered severe burn injuries and that two of them were reportedly to be in a serious condition.
On Friday, the Army intensified its operation in the area from domination to search and destroy operation.
But, it has also sought help from the Myanmarese Army as it suspects that the militants might have slipped back into the country after the deadly attack.
Currently, the focus is on the efforts to send back the bodies of the martyred soldiers and sanitise the area completely, the sources said.