Assam Massacre's Victims Include Women, Children

Parts of Assam are under curfew after the horrific massacre by militants from the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The army is on stand-by.

Three Bodos have been killed this morning with spears and knives in Assam's Chirang distict in retaliation for last night's attacks which targeted adivasis or tribal settlers.

18 children and 21 women were among those killed on Tuesday evening. "This is one of the most barbaric attacks in recent times with the militants not even sparing infants," said state Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Last evening's killing are being seen as revenge for an offensive by security troops against the militants.

Witnesses said armed men pulled villagers from their homes and shot them at point-blank range in a series of coordinated attacks.

"Our teams are still trying to reach the remote areas to see if there are more bodies lying in houses or forests," said Police Inspector General SN Singh.

One villager said the rebels were armed with sophisticated assault rifles and had come on foot. "I saw my wife and two sons being shot dead before my eyes," said Anil Murmu, a 40-year-old survivor from the worst-hit village of Phulbari, where 30 people were killed. "I somehow managed to escape by hiding under the bed," he said.

Adivasis, who migrated to Assam more than 100 years ago, have been targeted by Bodo rebels in the past along with Muslim settlers in the state. The Bodos are an indigenous tribe in Assam, making up 10 per cent of the state's 33 million people.

Adivasis oppose the Bodo claim for an independent homeland, arguing that in many areas of the state, their ethnic group is in the majority.

At least 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Assam in the last three decades. In May, rebels from the same group shot and killed more than 30 Muslim settlers in the region.