India has imposed a curfew in parts of the northeastern state of Assam after suspected tribal guerrillas killed at least 50 people in a series of attacks in retaliation for an offensive against them.
\nAssam has a history of sectarian bloodshed and groups fighting for greater autonomy or secession from India.
\nTuesday’s attacks in four places by fighters of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland within the space of an hour were the deadliest in months.
\nIndian security forces launched a campaign last month against the rebels in their remote hideouts, prompting a threat from them to target settlers.
\nReports said the attackers opened indiscriminate fire at Saralpara village in Kokrajhar district and in Santipur village of Sonitpur district.
\nThe attacks came after a joint team of Assam Police and the Indian army killed two Bodo fighters in the neighbouring Chiran district on Sunday.
\nVillagers told police the rebels came on foot, armed with assault rifles and wearing military uniforms.
\n“They didn’t even spare women and children,” said a police officer, adding there were at least 10 women among the dead in Tuesday’s violence.
\nAt least 13 children were killed.
\n“There is a curfew imposed by the police in a number of districts of Assam,” Al Jazeera’s Karishma Vyas, reporting from New Delhi, said.
\n“Police believe that this attack was planned. The gunmen reportedly fired indiscriminately on these villages that are largely populated by people know as the Adivasis.”
\nCulture under threat
\nSome members of the Bodo community say their identity, culture and language are under threat of being overrun and the only way they can preserve it is through self-governance.
\nThe rebels say they are fighting for a separate homeland for the indigenous Bodo people. They complain that the tea-growing state has been flooded with outsiders.
\nPolice Inspector-General SN Singh said in Guwahati, Assam’s capital city, that additional forces were being sent in to chase down the attackers. He said villagers at risk would be evacuated to safer places.
\nLalit Gogoi, deputy commissioner of the worst-affected Sonitpur district, said the army had been put on standby and a dusk to dawn curfew imposed.
\nThe single hospital in Sonitpur was crowded with scores of people with bullet wounds.
\nAssam is one of seven states in India’s northeast, a region bounded by China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh. For long, residents have accused the central government of plundering its natural resources and ignoring development.
\nNarendra Modi, Indian prime minister, condemned the attacks in a Twitter post, saying that the killings of innocent people were an “act of cowardice”.
\nModi has pledged to accelerate the development of roads and railways in the area.
\nAl Jazeera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India has imposed a curfew in parts of the northeastern state of Assam after suspected tribal guerrillas killed at least 50 people in a series of attacks in retaliation for an offensive against them. Assam has a history of sectarian bloodshed and groups fighting for greater autonomy or secession from India. Tuesday’s attacks in four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-and-oceania"],"yoast_head":"\n