Suspected militants open fire in a market in Assam's Kokrajhar
Highlights
- Terrorists open fire at a market in Assam's Kokrajhar
- 13 people have been killed, many injured
- Security forces kill one terrorist, others escape
A dozen people were killed and many injured after two terrorists in army uniform opened fire at a crowded market near Assam's Kokrajhar town.
The terrorists came in an auto-rickshaw and started firing at a weekly market at Balajan Tiniali, around 220 km from Guwahati. One of the attackers also threw a grenade, setting off a fire at a building.
Security forces killed one terrorist but the rest escaped. AK 56 and 47 rifles and grenades have been found in the area. Security personnel, along with tracker dogs and other special equipment, are searching for terrorists suspected to be hiding in nearby buildings.
The police have blamed the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which fought a violent decades-long campaign for a separate homeland for the region's ethnic Bodo people.
Assam's recently elected Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal condemned the killings and promised strong action. "Whoever is responsible for this will not be spared. Our policy is zero tolerance for terrorism," he told NDTV.
Militants fighting for a Bodo homeland killed at least 70 people, most of them tea-plantation workers from other parts of India, in a series of attacks in Assam in late 2014.
"It is very unfortunate because peace had actually returned to entire Bodoland area in Assam," said junior home minister Kiren Rijiju on today's attack.
"We have to ascertain that who are exactly the people behind this dastardly act, it is very unfortunate so many people lost their lives."