Rebel violence leaves four dead in India's Assam

India, Jun 30, 2009

Indian officials said Tuesday (June 30) that suspected rebels killed at least four people in India's restive northeast.  The four victims were from a family of migrant workers, according to the Associated Press (AP).  The four were killed on the outskirts of the town of Rangapahar, located some 95 miles (150 km) north of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, the AP reported Bhaskar Mahanta, a state inspector-general of police as saying. "We suspect rebels of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland [NDFB] were behind the attack," the AP quoted Mahanta as saying. However, according to the BBC, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.  The NDFB has fought for an independent Bodo homeland since 1986.  According to the AP, suspected rebels have targeted Hindi-speaking migrants from northern states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who they say take jobs from the locals.  In 2008, almost 100 migrants were killed in attacks, according to the AP.  Assam is also home to another major rebel group, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The ULFA is the most active of several ethnic insurgent groups that have been fighting for varying degrees of autonomy for the tribes of northeastern India. In the last two decades, more than 10,000 people have been killed due to insurgency in Assam. Meanwhile, according to reports, police have opened fire and shot teargas during an angry demonstration by protesters who were defying a curfew in Indian-controlled Kashmir (IcK), the BBC and Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.  At least one person was reportedly injured after police fired shots. According to AFP, the police said they fired live rounds after baton charges and teargas failed to disperse the stone-throwing crowd.  The clash occurred in Baramullah, which had been placed under curfew after two youths were killed on Monday (June 29) after police fired on demonstrators. Monday's protests had been triggered by the alleged assault of a woman at a local police station, the BBC reported.  According to AFP, the protests spread to the neighboring town of Sopore and that town was also placed under curfew. Police also said that six people were hurt in Bandipora town, north of Sopore during an anti-India protest. A three-day strike was also called across the Kashmir Valley. Separatist groups have called for the strike over the rape and murder of two women in the southern town of Shopian in late May, allegedly by Indian security troops. The incident has caused unrest since then.