The proscribed Ulfa (I) on Sunday claimed that “colonial occupational forces” had attacked their camps in Myanmar twice, first with drones and subsequently with missiles, killing three of its senior commanders.

The Paresh Baruah-led militant outfit, which operates from Myanmar, refers to the Indian armed forces as “colonial occupational forces”.

Reports about attacks on multiple camps of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) along the Myanmar border began circulating on Sunday morning, but at least two Army public relations officers said they had no information about any such operation.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he was aware of the Ulfa (I) statement but confirmed that neither was the Assam Police involved in the operation nor was the attack carried out from Assam’s soil. The defence establishment, too, has not issued any statement so far, he added.

In its first statement of the day, Ulfa (I) claimed that its camps in Myanmar, bordering Longwa in Nagaland and Pangsau Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, were attacked by drones between 2am and 4am on Sunday by the “occupational forces”, killing its “lieutenant general” Nayan Medhi alias Nayan Asom and injuring 19 others. At least 150 drones made in Israel and France were used to bomb the camps, the group claimed

The Army and the Assam Rifles guard the 1,643-km Indo-Myanmar border.

In a second release, Ulfa (I) claimed a missile attack killed two more senior members, “brigadier” Ganesh Lahon alias Ganesh Asom and “colonel” Pradip Gogoi alias Pradip Asom, and injured several others.

The missile strike reportedly took place during the last rites of Nayan Asom, the group said, vowing to avenge the attack.

This is the second time Ulfa (I) has claimed that Indian forces launched a drone attack on its camps in Myanmar.

The outfit had earlier claimed that on January 7 last year, Indian security forces carried out a drone attack on one of its mobile camps in Myanmar, injuring two cadres. Security forces had denied any knowledge of such an operation.

Ulfa (I), the only active militant outfit in Assam, has consistently refused to sit for peace talks with the government unless the issue of sovereignty is included on the agenda.

The undivided Ulfa was formed in 1979 to “establish a sovereign and socialist Assam”.

After Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa agreed to hold talks with the government in 2011, the Paresh Baruah-led faction was renamed Ulfa (I).

The pro-talks Ulfa signed a peace accord with the government on December 29, 2023, and disbanded the outfit in January 2024, ending its 44-year run.

Ulfa (I) has continued its fight against the “colonial forces”. During last year’s Independence Day celebrations, it rattled the state administration by claiming to have planted bombs at 24 locations across Assam as part of an “armed protest”, prompting a massive security operation.

The group said the bombs were intended to explode between 6am and 12 noon on August 15 but failed due to “technical” issues, a failure it claimed was enough to show it was not a spent force.