INDIA: Thousands flee fighting between indigenous tribes and Muslim settlers over the weekend in India's northeastern Assam state, which has left at least 17 people dead and many wounded.

Record ID: 1376946

  • Title: INDIA: Thousands flee fighting between indigenous tribes and Muslim settlers over the weekend in India's northeastern Assam state, which has left at least 17 people dead and many wounded.
  • Date: 23rd July 2012
  • Summary: KOKRAJHAR, ASSAM, INDIA (JULY 22, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) A VEHICLE IN FLAMES FIREMEN DOUSING THE FLAMES
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2012 23:05
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABY3B9QJQC1GT49G68KXO3IOVJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: At least 17 people, including a six-month-old child, were killed and many wounded in fighting between indigenous tribes and Muslim settlers over the weekend in Kokrajhar district of India's northeastern Assam state, police said on Monday (July 23).
    Businesses, offices and schools remained closed on Monday, and streets were deserted.
    Authorities imposed a night-time curfew to prevent more violence and federal troops moved into remote areas to deal with threats of more violence.
    About 50,000 villagers fled their homes and took shelter in relief camps out of fear, a senior civil servant in the district said, adding that 37 camps were set up to help the refugees and more would be opened if needed.
    Sparking the clashes, unidentified men killed four youths on Friday (July 20) night in the state's Bodo tribe dominated Kokrajhar district, police and district officials said. In retaliation, armed Bodos attacked Muslims, suspecting them to be behind the killings.
    Police said unidentified groups set ablaze houses, schools, and vehicles, firing indiscriminately from automatic weapons in populated areas. The body of a six-month-old child was found by villagers on a riverbank along with the body of a woman on Sunday (July 22), police said.
    Ringed by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, India's northeast is home to more than 200 ethnic and tribal groups and has been racked by separatist revolts since India's independence from Britain in 1947.
    Strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment against Bangladeshi settlers has emerged among Hindu and Christian tribes in recent years.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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