55 killed in massacre by tribal rebels in NE India

Tribal people armed with iron rods and daggers protest near Dhekiajuli police station in India's northeastern state Assam, Dec 24, 2014. At least 55 people, mostly women and children, were killed by armed tribal rebels in simultaneous attacks in several villages in the northeast Indian state of Assam Tuesday evening, police said Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua]

NEW DELHi - At least 55 people, most of whom women and children, were killed by armed tribal rebels in simultaneous attacks in several villages in the northeast Indian state of Assam Tuesday evening, police said Wednesday.

Police said the victims were mostly families of migrant tea garden workers in the Sonitpur district of northern Assam bordering Bhutan, where rebels of local tribal groups were fighting government forces and suspected the former of collaborating with security forces.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi both condemned the killing of innocents, while the Indian army was called in to maintain law and order in the troubled areas. A curfew has also been imposed in the areas where the attacks took place.

Police said the killings started at around 17:00 p.m. local time at a village at Maitalubasti in Sonitpur district in northern Assam, while the militants also attacked villages of Kokrajhar district in western Assam bordering West Bengal.

All the five places attacked fall under the jurisdiction of the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts. Victims were from other parts of Assam or central India, who were ethnically different from the local Bodo people.

The attackers were believed to be a hardline rebel group of local Bodo rebels called National Democratic Front of Bodoland, who refused to negotiate with the government for peace.

Earlier, the government was warned of retaliatory attacks by the rebels if the security forces did not stop operations against the rebels. Two rebels were killed last weekend by security forces which had intensified operation against them.

Local officials said the rebels might have targeted the tea garden workers, suspecting them of passing on information about its members to police.

Villagers who fled the carnage told police that the rebels came on foot, armed with assault rifles and wearing military uniforms. They forced open the doors of their thatched huts and opened fire, shooting people indiscriminately at point blank.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said his government would go ahead with counter-insurgency operations despite threats from the rebels.