Guwahati, India (BBN)- At least 12 people including eight children were killed and two others injured when suspected rebels attacked in a remote village in the country’s northeastern Assam state on Tuesday.
Suspected armed rebels attacked a remote village under Haflong police station of Assam’s troubled North Cachar Hills district started opening indiscriminate firing killing 12 persons including eight minors on the spot, police said.
North Cachar Hills Commissioner S. Jagannthan told The Hindu, a local newspaper, that the bullet-riddled bodies of the victims, including two women, were recovered from the remote Misidui village, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) off the district headquarters town Haflong.
Two wounded were shifted to local hospital for treatment. The rebels also burnt down 20 houses of the village.
Police suspect that the Dimasa militants, generally known as Dima Halam Daogah, who are fighting for a separate homeland in southern Assam state, were behind the latest attack. They are still investigating the incident, another local police official confirmed.
More than 40 people were killed in such attacks carried out by the rebel group since March 2009, according to official estimation.
BBN/SS/SI/AD-17June09- 4:46 am (BST)