23 killed in northeast violence in India
Associated Press / August 11, 2007

Suspected separatist rebels gunned down a group of migrant workers as they slept and bombed two markets in India‘s insurgency-wracked northeast, bringing the total number of people killed in a week of violence to 23, police said Saturday.

"They barged into two houses and opened fire at random," he said. The attack occurred in Dolamora village, some 155 miles east of Gauhati, Assam‘s capital.

Late Friday, militants threw a hand grenade from a moving car into a crowded market, killing a 2-year-old girl and wounding seven others, including the girl‘s mother, Bishnoi said. Also Friday, a bomb exploded in a market wounding 13 people, including two policemen, he said.

Police say militants have stepped up violence ahead of Aug. 15 celebrations of India‘s independence from Britain in 1947. In the last week 23 people have been killed in attacks.

The ULFA has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, while the KLNLF, active in southern Assam, are fighting for more autonomy for the region‘s Karbi tribes. Police believe the groups have been acting together.