United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)
Also known as United Liberation Front of Asom

India (Northeast Region). The group has also maintained camps in Bhutan and Bangladesh.

The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) operates in the (78,000 sq km, 30,115 sq mi) Assam region of India. Spurred by ethnic strife and immigration issues in the region, ULFA was formed in April 1979. It aims at establishing Assam as a separate and socialist country.

The Indian army estimated that ULFA has approximately 3,000 members. Other estimates range from 4,000 to 6,000.

ULFA has formed relationships of varying degrees with similar groups in the region including the Kachin Independent Army KIA), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), United Liberation Front of the Seven Sisters, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, United Liberation Front of Manipur and the Afghan Mujahideen. Ties have been reported to the Royal Bhutan Army and Police, allegedly concerning rations, logistics and money-laundering. ULFA members have allegedly trained with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence unit (ISI).

ULFA has engaged in the recruitment, training and deployment of insurgents and terrorists. Through connections with other groups, ULFA personnel have received training in intelligence, disinformation, explosives, rocketry, arms and assault weapons. Most attacks have involved conventional, non-suicide, bombings of government facilities. The group operates in two spheres with a military wing and a political organization. It seeks an independent state based on the view that Assam is in the "clutches of illegal occupation" by India. ULFA contends that the region's economic resources have been exploited by India and maintains that its actions are designed to redress issues of political and economic injustice.

Since a 2003 offensive by Bhutan's army, ULFA has largely been pushed from Bhutan. The group's leadership is believed to have relocated to Bangladesh.

ULFA's operations are divided into four districts: east (Purb Mandal), west (Paschim Mandal), central (Madhya Mandal) and south (Dakshin Mandal). ULFA created a military wing, the Sanjukta Mukti Fouj (SMF), on March 16, 1996. The SMF has three full battalions (the 7th, 28th and 709th). Other military formations probably have only company-sized strength.

The 7th Battalion was located at headquarters in Sukhni (in Bhutan). The 8th Battalion is responsible for operationsin Nagaon, Morigaon and Karbi Anglong. The 9th Battalion operates in Golaghat, Jorhat and Sibsagar. The 11th Battalion operates in Kamrup and Nalbari. The 27th is found in Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar. The 28th is responsible for Tinsukia and Dibrugarh, while the 709th has been fielded in Kalikhola (in Bhutan).

ULFA was largely dormant until 1986, when it began to raise funds through extortion and established a relationship with the KIA and the NSCN. Apparently ULFA obtained some support from the ruling party of Assam (Assam Gana Parishad), and reportedly infiltrated police departments in the region. ULFA draws support mostly from the northern districts of Assam, and has links with local insurgent groups. ULFA finances its activities through extortion and drug-trafficking, as well as through the operation of legal businesses, including a soft-drink operation and hotels. The Indian government outlawed the group in 1986.

Beginning in the early 1990s, ULFA became more aggressive in launching terrorist activities. The group has engaged in political assassinations, attacked police and security forces and blown up railroad facilities and other infrastructure. As a result of strong counter-terrorism measures taken by the Indian military, hundreds of ULFA members have been either killed or arrested. ULFA’s rolls reportedly have declined. However, membership is still estimated at several thousand and its terrorist activities have continued.

In late 2005, ULFA appointed an 11-member delegation dubbed the Peoples’ Consultative Group (PCG) to conduct negotiations with the Indian government. The PCG demanded, among other things, a sovereign and independent Assam. Two rounds of negotiations were held without significant progress.

By some measures, there has been more violence in Assam than in contested Kashmir. In 2007, the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a New Delhi-based security think tank, said Assam was more dangerous than Jammu and Kashmir, as measured by civilian casualties and terror attacks. Out of 604 Indian civilian casualties in terror attacks between January and August 2007, 168 occurred in Assam compared to 124 in Jammu and Kashmir. Police have also suggested that ULFA has turned to hiring students and drug addicts to carry out terrorist attacks.

ULFA has kept up frequent attacks through early 2009. Security forces also intensified their efforts resulting in the killing or capture of a significant number of ULFA militants, including key leaders. While the ULFA "pro talks" wing remained interested in negotiations, the government's insistence on the termination of violent activities as a prelude to talks remained a stumbling block to a settlement. Factions within ULFA differ as to whether Assam should be largely autonomous or work within the Indian constitution.

Nov. 7: the Indian government imposed President's Rule on Assam, declaring it a “disturbed area” and banning ULFA.

ULFA’s chairman attended the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva.

June 3: New Delhi invited ULFA to peace talks aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency.

Aug. 8: Separatist rebels in Assam bombed a village and three oil pipelines. Four people died and seven were injured in an explosion at a bus station in the Kamrup district village of Boko attributed to ULFA. Oil pipelines in three separate districts were also attacked, resulting in disrupted crude oil supplies to local refineries.

Sept. 8: ULFA appointed an 11-member Peoples’ Consultative Group (PCG) to conduct negotiations with the Indian government. ULFA also called a strike to protest the recent death of its founder. The group charged that Robin Handique was poisoned while in a Tezpur jail.

Sept. 15: Government forces battled ULFA, with troops surrounding a rebel base 370 miles east of Dispur. A dozen people were killed in rocket attacks.

Sept. 22 – Oct. 3: Threatening to withdraw from peace talks, ULFA leaders demanded a halt to army operations in Assam. By early October, the army had halted some operations, but ULFA said this was inadequate.

Jan. 23: Government negotiators announced peace talks with ULFA were scheduled for February.

Aug. 13: The Indian government announced a 10-day suspension of army activities against ULFA. The suspension was later extended by 25 days.

September: ULFA named a consultative group to explore negotiations with the government. 

Sept. 13: ULFA representatives called for direct peace talks between the group and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The government sought a formal petition from ULFA outlining the scope of talks and nominating a ULFA negotiating team. ULFA, as a precursor to negotiations, sought the release of five of its leaders from jail.

Sept. 25: The Indian army launched a major operation against ULFA, ending a truce that had been established to further peace talks. The offensive began after the assassination of a tea estate manager who apparently refused to be extorted by ULFA.

Nov. 5: Two explosions killed 14 people and wounded 45 in Gauhati, Assam. Officials suspected ULFA was behind the attacks.

Nov. 9: The Indian government decided to deploy up to 10 paramilitary companies to counter ULFA operations in Assam. New Delhi said ULFA had used the recent respite in military operations to re-equip and regroup, rather than negotiate.

Jan. 11: New Delhi stepped up its military offensive against ULFA in Assam and the neighboring state of Arunachal Pradesh. The military also mounted riverine patrols along the border with Bangladesh to prevent ULFA personnel from fleeing.

Jan. 18: The 311 Mountain Brigade, trained in counterinsurgency tactics, joined the forces combating ULFA in Dibrugarh.

Jan. 26: March 10: ULFA assassinated four Congress Party politicians in Sivasagar, Golaghat and Kamrup.

Aug. 8: As many as 30 ULFA militants raided the remote hamlet of Aampahar in Assam's Karbi Anglong district and killed eight Hindi-speaking villagers.

Aug. 11: Two insurgent groups, ULFA and the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front, attacked the civilian population in Assam's Karbi Anglong district. The insurgents raided Dehori village and murdered 13 people.

Sept. 6: Fourteen ULFA leaders surrendered to police in Guwahati. The rebels were from the 28 and 709 battalions.

Sept. 30: Police reported that ULFA was responsible for two bombings in Upper Assam. The first blast occurred in a Tinsukia neighborhood; the second explosion took place within minutes of the first at a cinema in Doomdooma, an industrial town about 15 miles from Tinsukia. At least one person was killed and 36 were injured as a result of the Tinsukia blast. Separately, ULFA militants were suspected of blowing up a crude oil pipeline in Bhekolajan.

Nov. 5: Two senior ULFA militants were arrested by security forces in the Sivasagar district. Somdev Phukon, an ULFA second lieutenant and his wife, listed as a corporal in the militant group, had arrived in Assam from Myanmar in October to replace Sujit Mohan as the commander of the ULFA's 28th battalion. Mohan was transferred to another ULFA unit.

Dec. 20: Tinsukia police arrested a doctor for providing medical aid to ULFA militants. Police charged that Dr. B.C. Bora not only treated ULFA members at the nursing home he operated but also visited ULFA camps in Arunachal Pradesh.

Aug. 28: Militants associated with ULFA and other groups surrendered to the Army in Rangia. The militants handed over a large cache of arms and ammunition.

Oct. 13: The government reported that ULFA was heavily recruiting new cadres in the Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat districts. New recruits were reportedly being sent to Burma for training under the guidance of a senior ULFA cadre.

Oct. 30: In a series of 13 explosions, 77 persons were killed and 300 were injured in the Assam capital of Dispur, the nearby city of Guwahati and three other districts. Officials suspected that Harakat ul Jihad-I-Islami Bangladesh militants or ULFA insurgents were responsible. ULFA denied any involvement.

Dec. 4: Indian investigators said their probe of the Oct. 30 bombings established the involvement of both ULFA and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). Evidence was said to implicate top officials of both groups in the bombings.

Jan. 12: The Assam state government reported to the legislature that eight militant groups, including ULFA, remained active in the province. Both ULFA and NDFB were said to be carrying out subversive activities in Assam under the influence of foreign powers; many leaders were reported to be directing activities from outside the country. In 2008, 124 militants belonging to the eight groups were killed and over 1,300 were arrested. Security forces recovered 203 bombs and 202 grenades during the year.

Feb. 3: Five members of an ULFA faction favoring peace talks arrived in New Delhi to hold discussions with the government.

Feb. 21: The pro-talks wing of ULFA submitted an 18-point list of demands to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in support of ULFA's goal for full autonomy in Assam.