ULFA

Subject : Security

Context: Khagaria man awaits release as Ulfa (I) frees Assam colleague.

Concept :

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is a militant outfit operating in Assam. It seeks to establish an independent state of socialist Assam with an armed struggle.
It was founded in 1979 by PareshBaruah. The organisation established ties with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland in 1983, with the Burma based Kachin Independent Army in 1987 and began its own operations in 1990.
Military operations against the ULFA by the Indian Army began in 1990 and continue into the present. The Government of India banned the organisation in 1990 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act citing it as a terrorist organisation.
The outfit suffered a major setback in 2003 when Bhutan flushed them out of its territory via its Operation All Clear.

Operation All Clear

In December 2003, Operation All Clear was launched by the Royal Bhutanese Army, with the `logistical support’ of the Indian security forces.
The objective was to clear southern Bhutan of camps of the ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), and the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO).
Several senior ULFA, NDFB and the KLO leaders were captured and handed over to the Indian Army.