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Guerrillas kill five Indian paramilitary troops

GUWAHATI, (India): Armed separatist tribal guerrillas killed five paramilitary soldiers in the remote northeastern Indian state of Tripura, local officials said on Thursday.

They said the guerrillas ambushed a vehicle belonging to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Wednesday night about 30 km (18 miles) from Agartala, the capital of Tripura.

The guerrillas belonged to the National Liberation Front of Tripura, a group waging a battle for an independent homeland against the leftist state government.

Tripura, a hilly state that borders Bangladesh, is one of India's half dozen northeastern states that have been wracked by separatist insurgencies for decades.-Reuter