National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed by elements of a Para-military extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

Speaking after the clash, The Massachusetts Governor declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right wing, tax protest movement. The Governor blamed the extremists for the recent happenings, directed against internal revenue officers. The Governor who addressed the group’s organizers as criminals, issued an executive order authorizing a summary arrest of any individual, who has interfered with the Government’s order.

The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons. Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outward weapons and ammunition.

By Prakriti Neogi