3 top ULFA leaders killed in Indian drone strike on Myanmar Base

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a separatist group based in India’s northeastern state of Assam, has claimed that at least three of its top leaders were killed in a drone strike allegedly carried out by the Indian Army on one of its bases in Myanmar. According to ULFA, the attack took place early Sunday morning (July 13).

In a statement, ULFA said the first wave of drone strikes killed one senior commander and injured 19 others. A second wave of attacks reportedly killed two more senior commanders. The group also claimed that many of its members, along with some civilians, were injured in the strike.

As of now, Indian authorities have neither confirmed nor officially commented on the alleged operation.

It is noteworthy that various rebel groups in India’s northeast share deep ethnic and cultural ties with communities living along the India-Myanmar border. This has led to the establishment of several insurgent bases across the border inside Myanmar. According to ULFA, a drone attack was also carried out on a base belonging to another insurgent group—the Manipur-based People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

ULFA, which has been waging an armed struggle for Assam’s independence since 1979, split into factions in recent years. One faction signed a peace accord with the Indian central government in 2023 and agreed to renounce violence. Since then, rebel attacks in the region have significantly declined. However, over the past three decades, numerous people—most of them civilians—have lost their lives in insurgency-related violence in the region.