Militants kill 18 in India's northeast

October 28, 2000
Web posted at: 9:26 AM HKT (0126 GMT)

NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- Separatist militants killed 18 people, including three women, a child and three policemen, on Friday in three incidents of violence in India's northeast region, police said.

Nine businessmen were shot dead in a busy market place in Nalbari town, about 70 km (45 miles) west of Dispur, the capital of Assam state.

Police said the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was behind the killing. The ULFA has been fighting for independence from the federal government for the past 21 years, accusing it of exploiting the state's rich mineral resources and neglecting the local economy.

"The militants escaped in the same vehicle soon after the firing," a senior police officer said.

Earlier, Bodo militants gunned down three policemen in an ambush near Tamulpur, close to India's border with Bhutan, Press Trust of India said.

The separatist National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), fighting for an independent country for Bodo tribesmen, accuses the central government of neglecting tribespeople and flooding Assam with outsiders.

In Tripura state, tribal guerillas killed six people, including three women and a child, in an attack on a village 85 km (54 miles) northwest of the state capital, Agartala.

Police said it suspected the killings at Rajani Sardar Para village were the work of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura which has waged a bloody decade-long campaign against immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

The NLFT, one of several insurgent groups fighting for autonomy or independence, blames the Bengalis for destroying tribal culture and grabbing their land.

India's remote northeast region is home to dozens of ethnic groups who are either fighting for greater autonomy or self-rule.

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