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Members of the Indian security forces opened fire on 13 civilians who were killed. The military unit mistook a truck carrying day laborers from a nearby town for insurgents they were pursuing. In clashes with inhabitants of the region, a soldier also lost his life.
Dozens of people, enraged by the mistake made by the Indian authorities, set fire to the military camps that mistakenly killed 13 people on Saturday, December 4, during an operation against militants in the state of Nagaland, in the northeast of India.
The death toll is compounded by a member of the security forces shot to death during the clashes with the mob of people that invaded the barracks.
“There were shooting incidents on Saturday in an area between Tiru and Oting village involving security forces in which 13 civilians were killed and many others injured,” the Nagaland government said in a statement.
Authorities in the area said most of the deaths occurred after a special forces unit opened fire on a truck carrying about 30 coal mine workers from a town in the region.
The soldiers, members of one of the oldest paramilitary forces in the country known as the Assam Rifles, mistook these people for militants of insurgent groups that have been fighting for the independence of an area that includes part of Indian territory and Myanmar for decades. .
An anonymous police source quoted by the Reuters news agency said that “the soldiers had intelligence information about a militant movement in the area and when they saw the truck they mistook the miners for rebels and opened fire, killing six workers.”
Minutes later, members of the local towns retaliated against the military and eight more civilians were killed in the clashes, including a member of the security forces.
An “extremely reprehensible” incident: Local government
Shortly after what happened, the Indian Defense Ministry reported that the deaths occurred during an operation that was planned “on the basis of reliable information about the probable movement of insurgents” and added that “the cause of the unfortunate loss of life is being investigating at the highest level and appropriate action will be taken in accordance with the law. “
For his part, the head of Government of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, said through his Twitter account that “the unfortunate incident that caused the death of civilians in Oting (…) is highly reprehensible” and said that it was the result of an intelligence failure, so an investigation will be opened to punish the guilty.
For decades, various tribal groups have settled in northeast India and created insurgent groups that accuse the government of looting their resources and doing little to improve the quality of life for the inhabitants of this area.
With Reuters, EFE and AP
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