India's Naga rebels, fighting for a separate tribal homeland, said on Wednesday they were running out of patience as government forces had killed dozens of their cadres in violation of a 1997 truce.
The comments by a top rebel leader came before peace talks with Indian government ministers in Bangkok later this week and the expiry of the cease-fire, due on July 31. The rebels of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Isaac-Muivah faction (NSCN I-M), have stepped up pressure in the run up to the talks, saying sovereignty was the key issue.
"They have killed around 116 of our boys in cold blood and arrested about 200 of them in the recent past," Phunthing Shimray, a NSCN (IM) "brigadier" who heads the rebels' cease-fire monitoring cell, told Reuters. "Our patience is running out," he said, adding that this was in violation of the truce agreement not to kill each other or confiscate arms.
Naga rebels have fought since 1947 for a separate homeland that includes parts of the predominantly Christian state of Nagaland as well as neighbouring areas inhabited by the tribals. More than 20,000 people died in the insurgency until a cease-fire in 1997 and the rebels and the Indian government have held several rounds of talks since.
But there has been little progress on the central rebel demands - unification of Naga-dominated areas in north-east India, which is fiercely opposed by other ethnic groups in the region, and ultimately independence.
Security analysts say peace with the Nagas is crucial for a broader peace in the remote north-east, seven states connected to the rest of India by a thin strip of land and home to dozens of insurgent groups.
Indian security officials said NSCN cadres moved around in battle fatigues and carried arms, making it difficult for troops to distinguish them from other militants in the region. "They are acting as a law enforcing agency in the Naga areas, which is a clear violation of the cease-fire agreement," a security officer said.
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