GUWAHATI (India), Jan 29: A major military crackdown by Myanmar has sent Indian separatists fleeing and left a growing death toll, a rebel leader told AFP on Monday. The junta had burnt down the general headquarters and two camps held by the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K).

“Heavy fighting is going on with a brigade (about 3,000 men) of the Myanmarese army using mortars and rocket launchers, launching a massive assault on our cadres since the weekend,” senior NSCN-K leader A.Z. Jami said by telephone.

The NSCN-K, fighting for an independent homeland for Naga tribal peoples in the north-eastern Indian state of Nagaland, has at least 50 camps with some 5,000 guerrilla fighters in Sagaing, northern Myanmar.

“We have lost three of our cadres and as many wounded in the attacks. In retaliatory strikes, our boys killed more than 12 Myanmarese soldiers and injured many more,” the rebel leader said.

“About 60 of our cadres who were at the general headquarters during the raid managed to flee the camp. “The offensive comes a week after India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Yangon and sought the junta's help against rebels from the northeast who have sought refuge across the border.

“The offensive by the military junta has the backing of the Indian government with most of the weapons used in the operation supplied by New Delhi,” another senior rebel leader said, asking not to be named.

Mukherjee's trip followed reports that hundreds of rebels from Assam escaped into Myanmar after India launched a military operation against the guerrillas earlier this month.

Authorities in Assam blamed the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for violence that saw 86 people killed – mostly Hindi-speaking migrant workers.

At least four other militant groups from India's northeast, including the ULFA, have training camps in Myanmar's jungles.

There was no confirmation of the military offensive from Myanmar.

The NSCN's Khaplang faction has observed a ceasefire with New Delhi since 2001 although peace talks have not started.

Myanmar had last year also launched a military operation against the NSCN-K and overran several of their bases.

India and Myanmar share a 1,640-kilometer unfenced border.

The rebels say they want to protect ethnic identities and allege the federal government is taking the resources in the mineral, tea, timber, and oil-rich region.

More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.—AFP