GUWAHATI, Nov 2: Seven paramilitary troopers died on Friday in an ambush by tribal separatists in India’s restive northeastern state of Assam, police said.

The Black Widow faction of the banned Haolam Daogah (DHD) attacked a three-vehicle patrol convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in North Cachar Hills district, a police spokesman said.

The area of the attack, 260 kilometres south of Assam’s main city of Guwahati, is considered a rebel stronghold.

“One of the CRPF vehicles first ran over a powerful landmine. Soon after the explosion, militants hiding atop a hill fired indiscriminately on the convoy,” police official A. Das said.

It was unclear whether the seven died in the explosion or were killed in the subsequent gunfire, Das said.

The DHD is fighting for a homeland for the Dimasa tribe in southern Assam.

A second faction of the DHD has declared a ceasefire with New Delhi.—AFP