India forces impose curfew in Assam
Iran Press TV
Wed Dec 24, 2014 2:55PM GMT
India's security forces have imposed a curfew across the communal violence-hit regions of the remote northeastern state of Assam.
The curfew was imposed on Wednesday in a bid to contain the latest bout of ethnic violence, which claimed over 63 lives in the troubled state.
Senior state police official SN Singh said the curfew was imposed in two worst-hit districts of Kokrajhar and Sonitpur, adding that police and paramilitary forces were patrolling the areas in a bid to prevent any unwanted incident.
Security sources have expressed concern that the violence could spill over to the nearby regions as well.
Media reports say many of the dead in attacks that were carried out in Assam on Tuesday included women and children.
Militants pulled villagers, including children, from their homes and shot them at close range, witnesses said.
According to police, militants from the so-called National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) perpetrated the attacks.
Assam, which borders the South Asian countries of Bhutan and Bangladesh, has for a long time witnessed violent land disputes between the indigenous Bodo tribes, Muslim settlers and the Adivasi community.
Bodo militants have recently carried out violent attacks on both Muslim settlers and the Adivasi community.
More than 10,000 people have been forced from their homes in this year's clashes, which have claimed the lives of 45 people.
The NDFB wants a separate homeland for Bodo tribes, which account for 10 percent of Assam's 33 million people.
JR/HSN/SS
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