Militants kill 23 in Assam, curfew clamped

Family members of the victims said the insurgents attacked one house after another, firing indiscriminately

At least 23 persons, including children and women, were killed and 14 seriously injured by heavily armed National Democratic Front of Bodoland(S) militants who unleashed violence in two districts of Assam falling under the Bodoland Territorial Administration Districts area since Thursday night.  Curfew has been imposed from 6pm on Friday to 4am on Saturday in Baksa district's Salbari subdivision and pockets of Mushalpur and Tamulpur subdivisions to prevent further breakout of violence, IGP (Law and Order) S N Singh camping there said.

Army's help has also been sought by the state government to deal with the situation and troops were staging flag marches to instil confidence among the locals in the violence-affected places and to bring the situation under control, the Chief Minister's office (CMO) said in a statement on Friday.

A group of 20 to 25 NDFB-Songbijit militants, armed with AK-47 rifles, swooped down on Balapara-I village in Kokrajhar district in the early hours on Friday and fired indiscriminately entering three houses one after another killing seven persons on the spot, police said.

IGP L R Bishnoi told PTI that two children and four women of the minority community were among the seven persons gunned down.

The body of a three-year-old child also killed in the attack was recovered from the area, police said, adding, 13 persons there were also seriously injured. Five bullet riddled bodies, including of two women and a child, were recovered from Nankekhadrabari and Nayanguri villages in Baksa district, police said.

At least 14 houses of the minority community were also set ablaze on the banks of Beki river near the Manas National Park in the district, IGP Singh said.     Today's attack followed the one by the militants last night when three members of a family, including two women, were shot dead and an infant seriously injured by the NDFB-S militants in neighbouring Baksa district last night.      The militants carried out the crime after entering the house near Ananda Bazar area in Baksa district also within BTAD, the police said.