Assam seeks Army help as 11 killed in ethnic violence

Kokrajhar: The Assam government has asked for Army help while sending 10 companies of para military forces to control the situation. Eleven persons are reported killed in targeted attacks since Thursday in Kokrakhar district, which saw the worst kind of ethnic violence two years ago between Bodos and non-Bodos of the region.

Seven persons, including two children and four women, were killed when suspected rebels of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland opened fire at a village in the Tulsibil area of Kokrajhar. Three people were injured.

Three more people were killed earlier, allegedly by the same rebels, in the Baksa area, which is a part of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Kokrajhar.

The rebels have been fighting for a separate homeland for the region’s ethnic Bodo people. The latest round of violence comes just days after voting in the region for the national election on April 24.