Bhutan claims huge weapons seizure in anti-rebel drive

The Bhutanese army is seeking to flush out some 3,000 anti-Indian militants in a major offensive, attacking a slew of rebel camps in jungles in the south of the nation locked between India and China.

The Indian army, which had long demanded the crackdown by the tiny Himalayan country, has reported the deaths of at least 128 rebels and eight Bhutanese since the operation began December 15 and says around 100 rebels are in its custody.

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A Bhutanese official said troops recovered up to 550 AK-47 assault rifles, 120 pistols and several light machine guns along with explosives, ammunition and satellite telephones from camps in the Samdrup Jhonkhar district.

"The haul of weapons, ammunition and explosives is very significant and is definitely a big loss for the militants," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP by telephone from the capital of the Buddhist kingdom, Thimphu.

"The raids are continuing full blast," he added.

The militants, however, denied the Bhutanese claims.

"We've lost only a limited number of fighters as well as weapons. We still have control over our bases in Bhutan," Arabinba Rajkhowa, chairman of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), told AFP by telephone.