Tuesday, October 3 2006 11:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: Myanmar is planning a major military operation to evict Indian separatists from its soil within a week, fuelling fears of heavy fighting in the north of that country, a rebel leader said today (Oct 3, 2006).

Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior guerrilla leader of the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), which is fighting for a tribal homeland in India's northeastern state of Nagaland, said hundreds of Myanmarese soldiers were moving into areas dominated by the rebels. He alleged that India was assisting Myanmar by supplying it with military equipment and ammunition.

Mulatonu said the NSCN-K cadres were alerted and were ready to repulse the military offensive by Myanmar.

"The Myanmarese army is seen setting up bunkers and moving military hardware close to our bases and we expect an assault by them within a week or so," Mulatonu told IANS by telephone from an area bordering Myanmar.

The rebel leader said a brigade (about 3,500 personnel) of troops were being moved to the military-run Myanmar's northern Sagaing Division where the NSCN has at least 50 camps with some 7,000 guerrilla fighters entrenched in fortified bunkers.

"We have spotted 98 trucks, loaded with weapons and ammunition being sent by the Indian government, crossing over to Myanmar through the border town of Moreh in Manipur to aid the junta to crush our bases," the rebel leader alleged.

There were no immediate comments available to confirm the rebel claims of India sending weapons to the Myanmar junta to fight the rebels.

"We are ready to give the Myanmarese military a real taste of our fighting skills," he said.

There has been no immediate confirmation of any military offensive by Myanmar.

At least four other militant groups from India's northeast, where numerous tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or independence, have training camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles - all of them sheltered there under the patronage of the NSCN.

In March, Myanmar had launched an assault on NSCN-K bases in the area.

"During the last operations we lost about 20 cadres and our fighters killed at least 30 Myanmarese soldiers in heavy pitched battles. They managed to demolish five of our mobile bases," Mulatonu said.

The NSCN's Khaplang faction has been observing a ceasefire with New Delhi since 2001 although peace talks are yet to begin.

India and Myanmar share a 1,640-km-long unfenced border, allowing militants from the northeast to use the adjoining country as a springboard to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on federal soldiers.

The rebels say they are seeking to protect their ethnic identities and allege the federal government has exploited the resources in this 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.