10 gunned down in two Assam attacks

At least 10 people were killed and four injured when suspected militants opened indiscriminate fire in two Assam villages Thursday night, police said Friday.

The first incident took place at a village of the Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts last night.

"Armed cadres belonging to the anti-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) barged into two houses of the village and fired indiscriminately, killing three people, including two women," said Assam Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A.P. Raut.

Two minor girls were also seriously injured in the firing, he said.

The second incident took place at "Balapara Tulsibeel village in Kokrajhar district around 12.30 a.m. today (Friday) where suspected NDFB militants fired indiscriminately and killed six people, including two children" and injured three, Raut said.

He said the three injured were shifted to a hospital where one of them later died, taking the toll in Kokrajhar district to seven.

Police suspect the sudden attacks are a retaliation to the ongoing anti-insurgency operation by the security forces in the BTAD region, where some NDFB militants have been killed recently.

"They (the militants) are just trigger happy people and it is difficult to ascertain any particular cause for their attack," he said.

The official said that additional forces have been moved in to the troubled areas. He said the army has also been engaged to assist state police in patrolling.

"We have also sought 10 companies of additional forces from the centre," he said.