Security forces clash with NSCN-K militants in Nagaland's Mon district; no casualties reported

Representational image. PTI[/caption]The exchange of fire took place in Choknyu village near Tapi bridge, when suspected National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I) militants fired at the para commandos."The gunfight lasted for an hour and suspected NSCN(K) and ULFA(I) militants retreated back to the jungles after intensive firing from the para commandos", a Nagaland police official told IANS.Intelligence officials said that the militants had sneaked into Nagaland from Myanmar to create terror.The army and para-military Assam Rifles are continuing with the operation to track down the fleeing militants.A couple of weeks back, an army Major, three ULFA-I militants and a civilian were killed in a gunfight between security forces and combined NSCN-K and ULFA-I militants in the district.The NSCN(K), which abrogated the ceasefire agreement with the Indian government in April 2015, has been active in Mon and three districts of Arunachal Pradesh — Longding, Tirap and Changlang, after floating a new platform called the United Liberation Front of Western South-East Asia (ULFWSA).The combined group of north-east militants has carried out a series of attacks on security forces in the past couple of years, the worst being the death of 18 jawans in Chandel district in Manipur in June 2015.This is a first major strike by the NSCN militants belonging to the Khaplang faction since Shangnyu Shangwang Khaplang's death on 9 June in Myanmar, where they have bases.