Troops kill five rebels in Assam

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Troops killed five separatist rebels in a fierce overnight gun battle in Assam, security officials said on Sunday.

The clash between took place in a thick forest in the oil- and tea-rich Assam state's Nalbari district, about 90 km west from the capital Dispur.

"Militants hiding in the forest opened fire when troops raided their hideout and the encounter continued for almost three hours," said military spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

"Later, after the firing from the opposite side stopped, our boys found five bodies," he said.

Four pistols, two grenades, live ammunition, and radio sets used by the rebels were recovered from the site.

Police said the dead militants were members of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a rebel group that has been campaigning for freedom since 1979.

It accuses New Delhi of plundering the state's mineral resources and giving back nothing in return.

India's remote northeast region made of eight states, ringed by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan and home to more than 200 tribes, has been racked by separatist insurgencies since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947.