India: Suspected Separatists Kill 13 Civilians in Assam Attack

A massive manhunt for suspected rebels who killed 13 civilians during a daylight attack on a busy market in India’s northeastern Assam state was under way late Friday, authorities said.

In the daring Friday morning attack, gunmen hurled grenades and fired indiscriminately at people who were shopping at the weekly market in Balajan Tiniali, Kokrajhar district, some 220 km (136.7 miles) west of state capital Guwahati, police said.

Officials said security forces killed one of the suspected separatists in retaliatory gunfire, as they rushed to respond to the attack. As of late Friday, the forces were hunting for “three or four” assailants believed to have fled into the thick forests of Kokrajhar, according to officials.

“It is not clear how many militants were involved in the attack. We have launched a manhunt as we believe the ultras who escaped are hiding in the area,” Mukesh Sahay, Assam’s director general of police, told reporters.

At least three men wearing army fatigues and with their faces covered in black cloth stepped out of an auto-rickshaw at about 11:40 a.m. and threw a grenade. Then they sprayed the crowd of shoppers with gunfire, according to eyewitness accounts.

At least 16 other people were injured in the attack that lasted about 45 minutes, police said.

Sahay said police had recovered enough evidence from the site to suggest that the National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Songbijit (NDFB-S), an armed group fighting for secession from India, carried it out.

Data from a mobile phone recovered from the slain attacker indicated that he was a cadre of NDFB-S, Sahay said.

Splinter group

The NDFB-S, led by Ingti Kathar Songbijit, is a breakaway faction of the NDFB, which has been demanding a sovereign Bodoland for the indigenous Bodo tribe in Assam since 1986.

The NDFB-S was formed in 2012 after a section of the main NDFB gave up the secessionist demand and agreed to hold talks with the Indian government. New Delhi has branded both the NDFB and NDFB-S, which is believed to number 270 cadres, as terrorist groups.

At least 200 people have been killed in assaults blamed on the NDFB-S since its formation four years ago.

Most notable among them was a series of attacks in May 2014 that killed 32 Bengali Muslims, and another attack in December 2014 that targeted a Christian tribe. More than 80 people, including 21 women and 18 children, died in that attack.

Unconfirmed reports suggested the NDFB-S had denied having anything to do with Friday’s attack.

But Minister of State for Defense Subhash Bhamre said the group was involved.

“While no terror group has claimed responsibility, a faction of the NDFB, a separatist outfit who seeks to obtain a separate Bodoland territory for the Bodo people in Assam, has carried out [the attack]. Army and paramilitary forces have launched a massive operation to nab the militants and they were around seven to eight militants in number,” Bhamre told Indian news agency ANI.

‘We will not tolerate any threat’

The attack was possibly done in retaliation for a zero-tolerance policy against armed separatism and militancy adopted by India’s ruling coalition, which is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to northeast Indian security expert Wasbir Hussain.

“The BJP government has time and again made clear that it will not engage any militant groups in peace talks. Maybe this is the reason, a splinter group like NDFB-S wants to make its presence felt by carrying out such an attack,” Hussain told BenarNews.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal announced a compensation package of 500,000 rupees ($7,480) to each of the families of the people who were killed in Friday’s attack and 100,000 ($1,496) rupees to each of the injured.

“We will not tolerate any threat from any group. The government will not bow to any pressure while tackling terrorist groups,” the Press Trust of India quoted Sonowal was quoted as saying.

He added that security forces across Assam were placed on high alert following the attack, and in view of the country’s Independence Day on Aug.15.

“Ensuring protection to life and property of the people is the first and foremost duty of the government. I appeal to all people of Assam to exercise restraint and to maintain peace and harmony,” he said.