lennart
22-11-03, 13:35
Suspected Separatists Kill 11 in India
Saturday November 22, 2003 10:46 AM
By WASBIR HUSSAIN
Associated Press Writer
NEW DELHI (AP) - Suspected separatist rebels on bicycles shot and killed 11 workers in a northeastern Indian state torn by ethnic violence, the police chief said Saturday.
Two others were wounded by suspected members of the United Liberation Front of Asom in the attacks in two villages in Assam, state police chief Khagen Sharma told The Associated Press.
Assam has been plagued by clashes between people native to the region and those from the neighboring area of Bihar. The dispute has been chiefly about access to government railroad jobs.
All the victims Saturday were brick factory workers. The deaths brought to 36 the total of migrant workers from Bihar who have been killed this week.
The United Liberation Front of Asom, one of northeastern India's main separatist groups, issued a statement last week warning Hindi-speaking people to leave Assam.
Since then, sporadic attacks against Hindi-speakers have taken place across the state. Around 100 houses have been burned in eastern Assam, officials have said.
Hundreds of Biharis are fleeing Assam in trains and buses, and some 3,000 are in relief camps set up by the government, local officials said.
The violence in Assam has prompted reprisals in Bihar, where some mobs have attacked trains carrying Assamese to and from their home state.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3418481,00.html
Q&A: India's violent north-east (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3224670.stm)
Saturday November 22, 2003 10:46 AM
By WASBIR HUSSAIN
Associated Press Writer
NEW DELHI (AP) - Suspected separatist rebels on bicycles shot and killed 11 workers in a northeastern Indian state torn by ethnic violence, the police chief said Saturday.
Two others were wounded by suspected members of the United Liberation Front of Asom in the attacks in two villages in Assam, state police chief Khagen Sharma told The Associated Press.
Assam has been plagued by clashes between people native to the region and those from the neighboring area of Bihar. The dispute has been chiefly about access to government railroad jobs.
All the victims Saturday were brick factory workers. The deaths brought to 36 the total of migrant workers from Bihar who have been killed this week.
The United Liberation Front of Asom, one of northeastern India's main separatist groups, issued a statement last week warning Hindi-speaking people to leave Assam.
Since then, sporadic attacks against Hindi-speakers have taken place across the state. Around 100 houses have been burned in eastern Assam, officials have said.
Hundreds of Biharis are fleeing Assam in trains and buses, and some 3,000 are in relief camps set up by the government, local officials said.
The violence in Assam has prompted reprisals in Bihar, where some mobs have attacked trains carrying Assamese to and from their home state.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3418481,00.html
Q&A: India's violent north-east (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3224670.stm)