At least 13 people were killed and 15 wounded in an attack on a busy market area in a town in India’s state of Assam on Friday.
Attackers wearing military uniforms fired and threw hand grenades at a market in Kokrajhar beginning at about 11 AM local time. One attacker was killed, prompting authorities to pursue the other two attackers, according to Assam police chief Mukesh Sahay. Sahay also told reporters that police had found an AK-47 rifle and explosives on the dead gunman; they also discovered a three-wheeler van the assailants arrived in. Sahay said the attack was orchestrated by the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland group, a militant faction fighting for a separate homeland for the Bodo tribespeople. India has classified this separatist group as terrorist in nature.
Of the 15 injured, 12 had serious injuries, according to P.K. Bhagwati, deputy police commander.
Assam, an underdeveloped state, has been fraught with ethnic and tribal insurgencies for years.
A senior home ministry official in New Delhi spoke on the attack, saying that, “Police have launched a hunt to trace insurgents hiding near the incident spot. It is a militant attack and we will be sending a team from Delhi to investigate further.”
