ULFA SUSPECTED IN ASSAM TERRORIST ATTACKS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000096

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DHS PASS TO RFI/BAROSKI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV PK IN
SUBJECT: ULFA SUSPECTED IN ASSAM TERRORIST ATTACKS

REF: KOLKATA 311

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1. (SBU) Summary: On April 6, nine people died and more than 30
were wounded in a series of six terrorist attacks in different
parts of Assam, including the capital Guwahati. Police suspect
that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA),which
celebrates its foundation day on April 7, conducted three of the
attacks, with three other insurgent groups conducting the
others. The attacks took place a day before India's Prime
Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh's planned to visit Assam. ULFA and
the other insurgent groups have denied responsibility for the
attacks. End summary.


2. (SBU) On April 6, eight people died and more than 30 were
wounded in a series of six terrorist attacks in different parts
of the northeastern state of Assam. One more injured person
died on April 7. The attacks came one day before India's PM
Manmohan Singh planned to visit the northern part of Assam for
election campaigning. PM Singh is a member of the Raja Sabha
(parliament upper house) from Assam. PM Singh did not cancel
his travel plans.

A Day of Attacks


3. (SBU) The first attack took place at 8:45 a.m. near Diphu in
Karbi Anglong district, about 270 kilometers south of Guwahati,
with attackers using a low intensity improvised explosive device
(IED). At 1:45 p.m. there was a second explosion from an IED
concealed in a motorcycle in the Maligaon area of the state
capital of Guwahati. Several hours later, an IED placed in a
bicycle exploded in Dhekiajuli, a city 150 kilometers north of
Guwahati. At 4.15 p.m., there was yet another IED blast at
Haflong, about 325 kilometers southeast of Guwahati. At
approximately 7:00 p.m., attackers threw a grenade at a police
outpost at Mankachar in the Dhubri district, 270 kilometers west
of Guwahati on the India-Bangladesh border. The last incident
was at Udalguri town, 140 kilometers north of Guwahati, where
attackers threw a grenade at a labor camp.

UFLA Blamed for Three Attacks


3. (SBU) Khagen Sharma (protect),a senior intelligence official
in Guwahati, told PolFSN that police suspect that UFLA conducted
the attacks in Guwahati, Dhekiajuli and Mankachar. He said that
the police had received intelligence that ULFA was planning
attacks on the eve of ULFA's April 7 Foundation Day. He said
that police were looking for two hardcore ULFA activists and had
circulated their photographs prior to the attacks. He noted
that while the explosives used in the three attacks are readily
available locally, the timers used to trigger the two IEDs are
not. He speculated that only the Pakistani Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) could have provided the timers. ULFA leader
Paresh Barua denied his organization's involvement and blamed
Assam's political parties for orchestrating the explosions ahead
of the elections.

Other Insurgent Groups Contribute to the Violence


4. (SBU) Police contacts told PolFSN that they suspect three
other insurgent groups are responsible for the other attacks;
the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF) in Diphu, the
Dima Halong Daoga (DHD) in Haflong, and the National Democratic
Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in Udalguri. He speculated that these
groups independently selected April 6 for the attacks since
security forces were focused on potential ULFA attacks ahead of
their Foundation Day and the PM's planned visit to the state.

Comment:


5. (SBU) While insurgents have been conducting terrorist attacks
in Assam for decades, there has been a marked increase in the
number and seriousness of attacks in the capital of Guwahati
over the past six months. Also, since the beginning of 2009,
there has been a serious terrorist attack in Assam every time a
senior Indian minister has visited the state - on January 1 when
Home Minister P Chidambaram visited, on March 31 during Foreign
Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit, and now a day before the PM
was scheduled to visit. While no one has confirmed that PM
Singh intentionally timed his visit to Assam to coincide with
ULFA's Foundation Day, it is probably not a coincidence.
Members of ULFA are the most likely culprits for the majority of
the serious attacks, but it remains unclear whether the attacks
are being orchestrated by senior ULFA leadership or splinter
groups operating on their own. While police and government
officials often blame foreign entities such as ISI for assisting
with the more serious attacks, they have yet to share evidence

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supporting these claims with USG officials.
PAYNE