Incident Summary:
10/30/2008: On Thursday evening at 1700, Black Widow militants killed at least seven police personnel at Langlai near Thujuari of North Cachar Hills district in Assam, India. Three militants were also killed in retaliatory firing. Haflong police sources said that the militants opened fire on the police party who were carrying the body of a Dima Halim Daogah (DHD) leader, Naklai Dimasa, who was killed by the militants on 10/29/2008, from Haflong Civil Hospital to Diyongmukh. Out of the seven slain police personnel, four were constables in the 8th Battalion of Assam Police, two were from the District Armed Branch and one from the Home Guard. No group claimed responsibility, though the Black Widow militants were believed to be responsible. Dinob Dimasa, spokesman of Black Widow, denied any involvement on behalf of the group.
Overview
GTD ID:
200810300034
When:
2008-10-30
Country:
India
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Assam
City:
North Cachar Hills district
Location Details:
The attack took place at Langlai near Thujuari of North Cachar Hills district.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Police |
Name of Entity |
North Cachar Hills Law Enforcement |
Specific Description |
Police officers were the target. |
Nationality of Target |
India |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
Unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The most recent available sources listed the fatalities for this attack from seven to 10, so the majority casualty figures have been used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Black Widows (suspected) |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
10 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
10 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
3 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Hindu, "Militants Gun Down 8 Police Personnel, 2 Civilians in Assam," World News Connection, Hindu, October 31, 2008. |
South Asia Terrorism Portal, "77 Killed and 300 Injured in 13 Serial Bomb Blasts in Assam," http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=10/31/2008#1 (October 31, 2008). |
Hindustan Times, "Seven Killed in Ambush," LexisNexis Academic, Hindustan Times, October 20, 2008. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties