Myanmar denies Indian army hit rebels inside its territory

Myanmar has maintained that Indian forces carried out an attack on insurgents inside the Indian territory, adding it would not tolerate rebel groups using its soil to attack neighbours. In a Facebook post, Hmuu Zaw Htay, director of Myanmar’s presidential office, said, “According to the information sent by Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) battalions on the ground, we have learned that the military operation was performed on the Indian side at India-Myanmar border. Myanmar will not accept any foreigner who attacks neighbouring countries in the back and creates problems by using our own territory,” he said. Hmuu Zaw Htay's remarks came in the wake of statements by ministers in India that special forces of the army had carried out a surgical strike inside Myanmar to destroy two camps of insurgents hiding there. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who dropped out of PM Narendra Modi's entourage to Dhaka at the last minute to plan this covert strike involving parachute commandos, will visit Myanmar soon, sources in New Delhi said. "Possibly he will have to do some real solid damage control. Our ministers by their chest thumping have embarrassed a friendly neighbour who looked the other way," said a top intelligence official. Though the Indian Army had first said the strikes were inside Indian territory in Manipur and Nagaland states, the country's junior information minister RS Rathore contended the attack on the rebel bases were far inside Myanmar, according to bdnews24.com.