Troops killed five separatist rebels in a fierce overnight gun battle in India's northeast, 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 (55 miles) west from the capital Dispur, Reuters reported. "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.
