37 killed in ethnic violence in Assam

New Delhi: 37 people, including eight women, mainly Karbi tribals, were killed on Monday in two separate attacks by rival tribes in Assam.

In the first attack, 22 people were hacked to death and their dismembered bodies burnt by the rival Dimasa tribe.

Police said more than 60 people were wounded in the attack in the Karbi Anglong district.

In another attack, the Dimasa tribesmen attacked a Karbi village, killing 15 people and burning around 60 mostly bamboo and straw houses.

"Heavily armed Dimasa militants stopped two packed buses, pulled out the victims, hacked them to death. They then burnt the buses and threw the corpses back in them," police officer Pankaj Sharma said.

After the second attack Dimasa militants forcibly took away many villagers to a nearby jungle. These villagers are still missing.

The Karbi and Dimasa have been fighting for years over land in Assam, home to several dozen tribal and ethnic groups and separatist and tribal militant outfits.

In the past two weeks, at least 72 people have been killed in ethnic violence, a majority of them Karbis.

"Additional troops have rushed to the area to control the situation and rescue kidnapped villagers," said Himata Biswa Sarma, Assam state's official spokesman.

More than 500 tribals have become homeless in the bloody clashes and many of them have taken shelter in government buildings and schools.

India's northeast, comprising seven states, is home to more than 200 tribes and ethnic groups and is circled by China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Separatist and tribal insurgencies have racked the region for more than 50 years.