January 17, 2002	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 2, 1422

GUWAHATI, Jan 16: At least eight people were killed and 10 seriously wounded in an attack by tribal separatists in India’s northeastern state of Assam on Wednesday, officials said.

A police spokesman said heavily-armed militants of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) attacked Dailongjhar village shortly after midnight in western Assam’s Bongaigaon district, 250 kms from the state capital Guwahati.

“There was a fair going in the area when some 10 to 12 NDFB militants came and sprayed random gunfire on the people,” a police official said.

The area was remote and thickly-forested, allowing the militants to escape.

The NDFB, fighting for an independent tribal homeland, operates out of fortified bases inside Bhutan to carry out their hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on targets in Assam.

“The area is close to Bhutan and it is likely the militants have sneaked back to their camps,” the official said.

It was the single biggest rebel attack this year.—AFP