U.S. troops study in Indian jungle to fight

Forty American soldiers moved into the jungles of India's remote northeast to learn from Indian soldiers experienced in countering guerrilla warfare.

The joint exercise is being organized by the Counterinsurgency and Jungle Warfare School in the eastern state of Mizoram, which also has trained soldiers from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Myanmar and other countries.

More than a dozen rebel groups have been fighting for independence for decades in India's northeast, giving Indian soldiers invaluable experiencing in combating insurgencies.

The U.S. soldiers are at the school for joint exercises for a third consecutive year, the army officer said. They are from the 25th Infantry Division and the Guam National Guards based at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

India and the United States also hold annual navy and air force exercises.

Military cooperation between the two countries was suspended after India tested nuclear weapons in May 1998.

But Washington lifted sanctions and renewed military-to-military contacts when India joined its coalition against terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the AP reports.