11 killed in two attacks in Assam

Guwahati, May 2 (IANS) At least 11 people were killed and three injured when suspected militants opened indiscriminate fire in two Assam villages, police said Friday, prompting the state government to deploy the army.

The first incident took place in a village of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) Thursday night.

"Armed cadres belonging to the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) barged into two houses of the village and fired indiscriminately, killing three people, including two women," said Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A.P. Raut.

Two minor girls were also seriously injured in the firing in Baksa district, he said. One of them succumbed to her injuries at a hospital.

"The second incident took place in Balapara Tulsibeel village in Kokrajhar district around 12.30 a.m. today (Friday) where suspected NDFB militants fired indiscriminately and killed six people, including two children, and injured three," Raut said.

He said the three injured were shifted to a hospital where one of them died.

Police suspect the sudden attacks were a retaliation to the ongoing anti-insurgency operation by the security forces in the BTAD region, where some NDFB militants have been killed recently.

The state government deployed the army and paramilitary forces in the violence- hit areas to assist police to control the situation.

Officials said the army had carried out flag march in violence-affected areas of Kokrajhar and Baksa districts.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi condemned the attacks. He asked the police to leave no stone unturned to arrest the militants and bring the situation under control.

The government will do everything possible to frustrate the nefarious designs of the insurgents out to create terror and to apprehend them at the earliest, Gogoi said.

A statement issued by the chief minister's office said Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde called up Gogoi Friday morning to assure him help and support to bring the situation under control.

In Shimla, Shinde said 10 battalions of central forces have been dispatched to Assam. Earlier, Assam's home department sought 10 companies of additional central forces for deployment in the violence-hit districts.