At least 12 people were killed and seven wounded Tuesday in a fresh bout of militant violence in India's restive north-eastern state of Assam, police said.
Six heavily-armed militants belonging to the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) descended on Jalabela village in western Assam and began firing indiscriminately on a group of people waiting in the village square, Dhubri district police chief L.R. Bishnoi told AFP.
Ten people - all from the Muslim minority - died on the spot in the 7:00 pm (1330 GMT) attack, the officer said. It was the fourth attack by NDFB rebels in the district since Sunday.
Dhubri lies 280 kilometres (173 miles) west of Assam's main city Guwahati.
The fresh attacks took the death toll in past few days of violence in the north-east, which has two dozen militant and separatist groups, to 81 with 217 injured. After the killings, the attackers escaped into adjoining thick jungle, Bishnoi said.