Six troops were killed on Sunday and their weapons looted after rebels attacked their convoy in a restive Indian frontier state, police said.
The soldiers from Assam Rifles were returning from a landslide disaster site when rebels sprayed their vehicles with bullets in Chandel district, about 120km southwest of Manipur’s state capital Imphal.
“The troops were returning from a remote area close to the Myanmar border after inspecting an area hit by heavy mudslides when they came under attack from separatists armed with automatic weapons,” a senior police official said.
The rebels were hiding on a hilltop and launched the attack before escaping with several AK-47 rifles and other weapons taken from the troops. One of those killed was an officer.
Herojit Meitei, Chandel police chief, said that extra manpower had been deployed to find the attackers.
