GUWAHATI, Jan 10: Separatists in India's restive northeastern state of Assam on Saturday blew up a crude oil pipeline, forcing authorities to raise a security alert across the region, officials said.

A police spokesman said suspected militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) triggered a powerful landmine blast early on Saturday on a crude oil installation belonging to the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) near Kunwarpur, 360 kilometers east of state capital Guwahati. "We are yet to ascertain the explosives used in the blast but it was of a high intensity," a senior police official said.

An ONGC official said the crude oil production in the region was not affected.

The ONGC produces about two million tonnes of crude annually in Assam.

The Assam government has sounded a high alert across the state following the blast.

"We have provided extra security cover to all oil and other vital installations," the police official said.-AFP