Guwahati, March 16: Ulfa (Independent) hinted at more "joint operations" with the Co-ordination Committee (CorCom), an umbrella body of Manipur-based militant groups, against security forces on its "army day" today.

In a statement emailed to media organisations here today, chairman Abhizeet Asom, and "commander-in-chief" Paresh Asom stressed the need to strengthen their ties with the Manipur-based groups despite linguistic and cultural differences.

At least six armymen were killed in two separate ambushes in December and January close to the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Upper Assam by a joint team of Ulfa (I) and CorCom. Ulfa referred to the ambush as Operation Barak.

"Operation Barak rattled the Indian army chief so much that he had to rush to the occupational headquarters in Tezpur. The age-old military and political co-operation between Assam and Manipur was reflected again in the on-going Operation Barak in which the valiant Manipuri freedom fighters of CorCom took part with courage and tenacity. There are some linguistic and cultural differences between us and the members of CorCom. We need to continue to familiarise ourselves with the language and culture of Manipur to strength the fraternal bond," the email said.

Ulfa (I) observes "army day" on the raising day of its armed wing on March 16 in 1979. The outfit had carried out several attacks on security forces on its this day in the past.

Security across Assam was intensified fearing similar attack today but the day passed peacefully.

Assam police officials recently said an alert was sounded after intelligence inputs suggested that Ulfa (I) was trying to carry out attack in Guwahati.

Ulfa (I) is bent on its demand for "sovereign Assam," while another Ulfa group, led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, is engaged in talks with the government.

They have submitted a charter of demands, focusing mainly on protection of identity and political rights of the state's indigenous people.