INDIA: A series of bomb attacks in India's north-eastern insurgency-ridden states continued for the second consecutive day yesterday, leaving at least 50 people dead.
Police blamed separatist rebel groups fighting for varying degrees of independence and autonomy in neighbouring Nagaland and Assam states for the bombings and indiscriminate firing in crowded places, in which at least 140 people were injured, many seriously.
Two bombs strapped to bicycles exploded yesterday in markets in different parts of Assam, killing a man and wounding at least 20 people, mostly shoppers.
Two others exploded in the streets of the remote towns of Sonari and Baska, near the state's border with the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, wounding another 20.
Troops patrolled the streets in the two states to prevent further violence. This has been one of the worst outbreaks in recent years to hit the ethnic patchwork region, where over 30 insurgent groups have been active for decades.
The insurgency in Christian-majority Nagaland, bordering Myanmar (Burma), is the country's oldest, with Naga tribesmen fighting for a homeland since India's independence 57 years ago.
Militancy has claimed 5,506 lives in Assam since 1992, and around 1,900 in Nagaland, where a ceasefire had been in operation since August 1997.
Trouble erupted on Saturday evening when suspected separatists detonated three bombs in quick succession at Nagaland's packed Dimapur railway station and at the crowded Hong Kong market nearby, killing 30 people including women and children.
Eyewitnesses said body parts littered the area, with scores of passengers left trapped under rubble following the massive blast that blew off the station roof.
In Assam, police claimed insurgents belonging to the tribal separatist National Democratic Front of Boroland group opened indiscriminate fire in two market places, killing 15 people. The death toll in both states climbed to 50 yesterday as some of injured succumbed to their injuries in hospital.