December 18, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 23, 1424

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: At least 100 separatists from northeast India and 34 Bhutanese army personnel were killed in an ongoing operation by the Bhutanese army, reports said on Wednesday.

The Bhutan army launched Operation All Clear on Monday against an estimated 3,000 insurgents from three Indian groups who established training camps in the forests of south Bhutan about 12 years ago.

Bhutan’s National Assembly passed a resolution for the army to destroy the camps and flush out the insurgents — from the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland and Kamtapur Liberation Organisation — after peaceful negotiations failed, a statement from the Bhutan embassy said.

On December 13, the Bhutan government published a notice in the national newspaper, Kuensel, for the three groups to leave the country. Shortly before the army operation began Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuk telephoned Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who assured him of support.

India has often pressured the tiny Himalayan kingdom to deal with separatists who take refuge there and wreak havoc in the remote northeastern Indian states. The operation started on Monday in the southern districts of Bhutan, where the three groups had set up about 30 camps to train cadre, store ammunition and launch surprise attacks in India.—dpa/AFP