Seven killed in India market bomb
The bomb exploded in the north-east Indian state of Assam
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Saturday, 26, May 2007 12:45
Seven people were killed and about 20 wounded after a bomb exploded in a crowded market in India's north eastern state of Assam today, police have revealed.
The device was hidden within a rickshaw in the state's main city of Guwahati.
At least eight of those injured in the attack are understood to be critically hurt.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but local police say the attack may be the work of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) - a separatist rebel group.
The ULFA is one of several groups that have been pressing for independence in Assam, whose indigenous population is ethnically closer to the peoples of China and Burma than to other Indians.
Rebels, who have been fighting over the area's sovereignty since 1979, also accuse India's New Delhi-based federal government of exploiting the north-east's rich mineral and forest resources and ignoring the needs of the local population.
It is thought that the ULFA is responsible for more than 20 bomb attacks which have been carried out in the past two months.
Commenting on the latest bombing, the Reuters news agency quoted an Assam police official as saying: "We had intelligence inputs of ULFA targeting the city's crowded areas, a day ahead of celebrations to mark the state government's first year in power."
Talks between the Indian government and the ULFA to achieve peace in the region broke down last September following a brief six-week truce.