VZCZCXRO4416
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHCN
DE RUEHCI #0024/01 0221342
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221342Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1356
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1249
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0322
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0522
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0522
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0056
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0252
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0321
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0135
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0212
RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 1677

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CALCUTTA 000024 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER PHUM CASC MARR IN BG
SUBJECT: ULFA CONTINUES ITS WAVE OF VIOLENCE IN ASSAM 
 
REF: CALCUTTA 00010, CALCUTTA 00016 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. The ethnic-Assamese terrorist group United 
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) continued its wave of violence 
in Assam over the past week January 15-22, bringing total 
casualties to near 90. Assam Chief Minister Gogoi has been 
appointed head of the Unified Command, which includes army, 
police and paramilitary forces. The most recent attacks follow a 
January 16 visit to Assam by PM Manmohan Singh. Assam and GOI 
officials expect the violence to continue as the date for the 
Indian National Games approaches. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Attacks by ULFA continued over the week, with a number of 
the incidents taking place in or near Assam's capital, Guwahati. 
 
-- On January 17, two persons died and 26 others were injured in 
a blast in the busy Ganeshguri market in Guwahati. 
 
-- On January 19, ULFA insurgents hurled a hand grenade at a 
busy market place near Adabari Tiniali in Guwahati, injuring 
three persons. 
 
-- On January 20, ULFA triggered an explosion in Tinsukia, 
killing two and injuring 10. The bomb was planted in a 
motorcycle in a business hub. A man claiming to be an ULFA 
member later reportedly told local newspapers by telephone that 
ULFA would attack government officials if the Central Government 
did not cease its military crackdown on the organization. 
 
-- Also on January 20, ULFA shot and killed a local Congress 
Party leader in Tinsukia. ULFA had earlier issued a statement 
that it would target Congress Party officials in response to the 
Congress-led GOI's crackdown on ULFA. 
 
-- On January 21, two people were killed and seven wounded in 
two separate explosions in the state. A blast near a crowded 
vegetable market in Barpeta district killed two civilians. The 
same day, three people were injured in another blast near the 
parking lot of the railway station in Bongaigaon, triggered by a 
bomb placed in a parked motorcycle. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On January 9, the GOI army launched an operation 
(code-named Rhino-II) throughout Assam, but focused primarily in 
upper Assam, including the Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia 
districts where ULFA killed 68 people in early January. Army 
troop strength now exceeds 30,000 in Assam. On January 15, Assam 
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi became head of the Unified Command - 
comprised of the army, police and paramilitary forces -- for 
counter-insurgency operations in Assam (a departure from the 
traditional practice where the state's Chief Secretary would 
function as its head). Gogoi believed that the six-week 
ceasefire during August-September 2006 with the ULFA was a 
mistake, and had allowed ULFA to regroup and re-arm its cadres. 
According to media reports, the army and Assam police are 
capturing or killing ULFA terrorists in small batches of 1-2 
persons at a time. 
 
¶4. (U) The most recent spurt of attacks follows the visit of 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Assam on January 16, when he 
emphasized that although the Center still hopes that the ULFA 
would opt for peaceful negotiations, violence by the group will 
not be tolerated. The Prime Minister assured Hindi-speaking 
migrants - who had been targeted by ULFA - that they would be 
protected. Two days later, ULFA issued a warning to 
Hindi-speaking people to stay away from Assam during ULFA's war 
with the security forces. ULFA, along with other militant 
organizations like the Manipur People's Liberation Front, the 
Tripura People's Democratic Front and the Kamtapur Liberation 
Organization, has also called for a boycott of Republic Day 
celebrations of January 26. 
 
¶5. (SBU) An Inspector General of Assam Police told Post that the 
violence is expected to continue until the National Games 
scheduled to be held in the state in February. By continuing the 
violence, ULFA is expressing its displeasure that its demands - 
such as the release of its detained leaders - are not being met, 
and that talks with Delhi not begun, he said. The IG also 
observed that ULFA's actions in sowing disorder and violence in 
Assam may be having an effect in the Hindi-speaking state of 
 
CALCUTTA 00000024  002 OF 002 
 
 
Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress Party is making a serious bid 
for control in the state's upcoming elections. In his view, if 
Congress cannot get a handle on Assam, it may undermine its case 
that it can handle a dismal law and order situation in U.P. 
JARDINE