In a dramatic escalation of counter-insurgency operations, a wave of drone strikes reportedly struck camps belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Khaplang (NSCN-K) in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region early Sunday morning. The pre-dawn assault on July 13 is believed to have caused significant casualties, including the death of a senior ULFA-I military commander, marking a serious blow to the banned insurgent outfit.
According to highly placed official sources, the operation appeared to be a coordinated cross-border strike likely involving Indian forces, though there has been no official confirmation of the strike by the authorities in India.
In a statement released by ULFA-I, the group claimed that its camps, located between Longwa in Nagaland and Pangaau Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, were hit between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. The outfit’s publicity secretary, Ishan Asom, alleged that over 100 unmanned aerial vehicles—some reportedly of Israeli and French origin—were used to drop approximately 150 bombs on their mobile bases.
The strikes reportedly targeted ULFA-I’s Eastern Command Headquarters (ECHQ) at Hoyat Basti and the 779 Camp at Waktham Basti. The outfit confirmed the death of senior commander Nayan Medhi, also known as Nayan Asom, who led the ECHQ. His death is seen as a critical operational setback for ULFA-I.
In a subsequent statement, the group reported that two other senior cadres, Ganesh Asom and Pradip Asom, were killed while attempting to retrieve Medhi’s body. In total, ULFA-I claimed 19 of its members were killed and 19 more injured in the assault.
Preliminary intelligence assessments also suggest that multiple NSCN(K) camps were struck in the same wave of attacks, though exact casualty figures remain unverified.
Despite detailed claims from the insurgent side, Indian authorities have neither confirmed nor commented on the operation. When approached, Indian Army spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat stated, “There are no inputs about such an operation.” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also clarified that Assam Police had no involvement. No statements have been issued by the Indian Ministry of Defence or the Myanmar government thus far.
ULFA-I has denounced the attack as “a planned move of the Indian government to sideline the organisation from any talks process.” The alleged strike comes amid increasing security concerns following a renewed surge in militant activity in Northeast India.
In late 2024, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs extended the ban on ULFA-I for another five years, citing the group’s continued involvement in violence, extortion, and separatist activities. At least 16 criminal cases have been linked to the organization between late 2019 and mid-2024.
The forested and remote Sagaing Region, long used as a safe haven by Northeast Indian insurgent groups, remains highly unstable amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil conflict following the 2021 military coup. Just two days before the alleged drone strikes, on July 11, the Myanmar military was accused of killing over 20 civilians in an airstrike on a monastery in the same area.
Security analysts suggest that if confirmed, the strikes may signal a shift towards a more assertive Indian counter-insurgency strategy aimed at dismantling cross-border insurgent infrastructure. However, with no official acknowledgement, the scope, scale, and broader implications of the Sunday morning operation remain unclear.
