Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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May 14, 2007

India's Assam State Hit by Fresh Violence
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17778B4:A6F02AD83191E160BCD11A2744DECE9B9574F7DCC14957C0 India's restive
northeastern region is being wracked by new violence, including a bomb
that killed two people The most economically prosperous state in
India's restive northeastern region is being wracked by new violence,
including a bomb that killed two people. VOA's Steve Herman reports
from New Delhi on the latest troubles in Assam.







An injured survivor of a bomb blast is taken to the hospital for
treatment in the Athgoan area of Guwahati, the capital city of India’s
northeastern state of Assam, 14 May 2007Curfews are being extended in
Assam in northeastern India after a fatal bomb blast Monday.
Authorities are blaming an Assamese rebel group for the explosion.

Senior Superintendent of Police S.N. Singh spoke to reporters in the
state capital, Guwahati. Singh says a bomb was planted on a motorcycle
in front of a building and exploded in the busy market district at
midday.

In addition to the fatalities, at least 10 people were injured.

Authorities have blamed the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom -
known as ULFA - for carrying out more than 20 bombings in the state in
the past two months.

Last week 19 people were injured in an explosion in Guwahati, while
eight others were wounded in a car bomb blast in the eastern part of
the state.

ULFA went on the offensive in January with attacks that killed 80
people, mainly Hindi-speaking migrant workers. That prompted the
Indian military to carry out strikes against the group. It says it has
killed 55 rebels and arrested more than 500 since January.

The rebel group has been fighting for an independent homeland in the
resource-rich state since 1979. Analysts say most of the group's
leadership operates from neighboring Bangladesh. The group previously
had also operated out of a heavily forested region across the Indian
border in Bhutan.

Monday's blast comes a day after six people were killed in a clash
between migrant workers at a tea plantation and local youths. That
violence stemmed from a blockade of a highway to protest the killing
of a young farmer by the army in an anti-insurgency operation.

Local press reports say protesters backed by ULFA have been blocking
the national highway for more than a week. That prompted angry tea
laborers to pelt the protesters with stones because the blockade has
cut the supply chain to a nearby tea plantation, preventing them from
receiving their weekly rations.

The violence has forced the shutdown of oil refining operations at
Digboi and other nearby facilities.

Violence connected to the insurgency in Assam during the past two
decades has claimed more than ten thousand lives.