2007年VOA标准英语-Post-Election Convoy Ambushed in India's Manipu

（单词翻译）

By Steve Herman
New Delhi
24 February 2007

Officials in India's northeastern state of Manipur say suspected rebels have ambushed¹ a security patrol, killing² 15 security officers and wounding six others.  Authorities say the attack occurred on a post-election patrol in the Bishenpur district when they came under heavy fire. VOA's Steve Herman reports from New Delhi.

Officials say a two-hour gun battle Saturday resulted after a convoy³ of security personnel and election workers was ambushed by suspected rebels firing from a hill in the thick jungle of Manipur state in the far east of India.

The area where the attack took place held the final phase of local assembly elections on Friday. The ambushed contingent⁴ - which included members of the India Reserve Battalion⁵, were apparently⁶ transporting polling materials, including electronic voting machines.

The executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management, Ajai Sahni, says the number of casualties inflicted⁷ by the suspected insurgents⁹ is unusual for a single encounter.

"This was an election security party which was returning which was ambushed and then an engagement resulted. There are very frequent incidents [with] regular fatalities¹⁰, but not of this scale," he said.

Military officials say the insurgents were well armed and fired automatic weapons.

There are nearly 20 rebel groups active in Manipur, which borders Burma.

The largest of those groups, the United National Liberation Front, opposed the elections. It is calling for a referendum to determine whether Manipur should secede¹¹ from India.

Insurgent⁸ violence in India's five restive¹² northeastern states in the past decade has claimed more than 15,000 lives.