India has granted the army shoot-to-kill powers to fight militants in a wide swathe of the far-flung north-eastern state of Arunchal Pradesh, bordering Tibet and claimed by China. The army was already exercising "special powers" in other north-eastern states, where various separatist, leftist and tribal rebels are waging insurgencies, but Arunachal Pradesh has been relatively peaceful until recently.
Last month, three soldiers were killed in an ambush in the state that the army blamed on militants from the Naga tribe.
Rebel groups have set up camps across the state, the home ministry said in its "special powers" order, and use it as a base to launch attacks in the neighbouring state of Assam, which has been hardest hit by an upsurge in militancy in the region.
The order, obtained by Reuters and dated March 27, extended the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to all districts of Arunchal Pradesh that border Assam - a measure that will affect most of the state's 1.3 million people.
"We were compelled to expand the jurisdiction of AFSPA due to a drastic rise in violence in the north-east region. The separatist groups have been targeting the police and security officials," said a senior home ministry official in New Delhi.
The north-eastern states, are connected to the rest of the country by a thin sliver of land, and contain diverse ethnic groups, some with links to neighbouring Myanmar.
Militant activity surged in the states, known as "the Seven Sisters", last year with 465 deaths reported, up from 252 a year earlier, according to the South Asian Terrorism Portal, a think-tank that tracks militancy.
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